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Reusing Men’s Suit Jackets

lovemyelna | Posted in General Sewing Info on

I have inherited 5 beautiful herringbone tweed suit jackets, size 42 long in men’s. I would like to keep all the collar and lapel work but resize the rest to fit me. Has anyone seen any articles on this subject?

Replies

  1. solosmocker | | #1

    I tried this some years back. Would I do it again? No. The collar and lapels do not lend themselves to the feminine physique, assuming you are female. You would have to rebuild the sleeves and so on. You are still left with menswear fabric with a menswear cut. This may be what you want but I did not care for the look. I had better results buying fine quality womens clothing from the thrift store and rebuilding that. The cut and fabric were much more appropriate and that I would definitely do again if I needed to. JMHO

  2. suesew | | #2

    I saw some lovely purses at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London made out of parts of men's suits. You could see various sleeve ends and closures and pocket treatments out of different suit coats and fabrics all on one purse. Very clever. And probably not to everyone's taste!

  3. mainestitcher | | #3

    It can be done, I've done it. But unless the man was small, and you are big, the collar will need to be shortened, and the lapels narrowed.

    I worked in a men's store. The boss threw out a sport coat he was tired of. We fished it out of the wastebasket and recut it to fit a saleswoman who worked there. Virtually every piece had to be taken apart and cut down.

  4. Stellae | | #4

    I'm sorry I don't know the exact issue, but there was *definitely* an article on this- it was a loooong time ago, (#'s 30-45, maybe?).  Basically on exactly what you seem to be describing, I think (the author had a very nice coat of her dad's that she, w/ a fitting assistant, re-sized to fit). The info would obviously still be accurate, but you might have a tough time finding a copy...ebay, maybe?

  5. katina | | #5

    Hi - the article is in Threads #35. 

    Good luck!

     

     

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