Sewing Tutorial: Make an Easy DIY Sleeveless Boyfriend Jacket
Amina Salau
One of the most interesting things about learning to sew, is the ability to repurpose clothes into new styles, and create easy DIY fixes that you may not ordinarily find in the retail shops. This tutorial is one of such. A 5-minute, extremely easy tutorial for a casual sleeveless boyfriend jacket that won’t cost you much. For this project, I will recommend a knit, stretchy fabric because you do not have to sew the edges as they do not fray.
Tools Needed
Jersey (stretchy) fabric
Scissors
Tape measure
Sewing machine
Pins
Needle
Thread
Instructions
Fold your fabric in half, from the left edge to the right. Remember, the length of the fabric should be your desired length, so you decide how long and wide you want the jacket to be.
Once the fabric is folded, take a measurement of your shoulder, from one armhole to the other. You will be placing the tape measure at the back of your neck. Let’s put the measurement at 12 inches for example.
On your folded fabric, mark 6 inches from the top left edge of the fabric downwards, and then 6 inches from that new point, into the fabric. This 6 inches measurement is because the fabric is folded, so it’s two pieces of 6 inches, making the original 12 inches shoulder measurement.
At the second 6 inches measurement, cut the fabric in a straight (vertical) line. You are cutting the armhole for your jacket so do not make it a large cut. 6 inches should be fine.
Open the fabric, and you should have two armholes.
Test the jacket to see that it fits.
If you are using a fabric that is not knit or stretchy, you now need to sew round all edges of your jacket, as well as the armhole, to prevent them from fraying.
Fold all edges down half an inch, twice, and secure with pins.
Take the jacket to the sewing machine, and sew round all edges and armholes with a straight stitch.
Give this easy tutorial a try, and have a new boyfriend jacket to rock in no time.
About the author: Amina Salau is a writer and editor running The Illuminated Pen. You can find her online at www.theilluminatedpen.com and on Twitter (@_Aminah)