What can be sewn from an old leather coat?

Genuine leather is a durable, practical and very effective material. High-quality leather clothes will last so long that you cannot even imagine. And even if such a thing simply went out of fashion, then it can always be redrawn to more fashionable clothes. If you are interested in knowing what can be sewn and how to remake from an old leather coat, then our article is for you. Today we will tell not only about what can be made from an old leather coat, but also advise how to work with the skin correctly, what tools are needed.

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What can be sewn from a leather coat (photo)?

How to alter a cloak and what can you do yourself? Remaking will not take much time, and the result will surprise anyone. Sewing things from such a practical and warm material, like leather, is definitely worth it only for the reason that such products look very impressive. If the skin is of good quality and not worn, then it is easy to redraw and sew fashionable things:

• Vest of any length, with and without fur collar.
• Sports short jacket.
• A small jumpsuit.
• Skirt.
• Pants and shorts.
• Gloves of various styles.

Important! If the leather thing has already been rubbed in places, then the frayed spots can be masked with embroidery, applique from other pieces of leather or combined with suede, fur or knitwear.

If the skin is scratched and shabby, and it cannot be used for clothes, then you can use the material to make practical things and accessories. Here is just a small list of leather products:

• Bags, clutches and backpacks.
• Slippers.
• Wallets and purses of different sizes.
• Cases for phones and glasses.
• Belts.
• Shoulder straps on the coat.
• Dog collar, leash and muzzle.
• Jewelry: brooches, hair clips, bracelets.
• Bag with pockets for tools.
• Decorative basket for storing various little things.
• A cache-pot under a flower pot.
• Braid for the steering wheel.
• Floor vase.
• Picture.
• Leather cords from completely unsuitable pieces are suitable for decorating clothes and decorating the room. For example, various hinged shelves can be secured to the wall with leather straps or laces.
• Flowers for decorating bags, berets and hats.
• Bindings for notebooks and diaries.

Important! If you use an old raincoat to make a bag or clutch, do not tear off the lining fabric - this will reduce time and facilitate work.

And nowadays, leather is very often used in the interior. It can be used for upholstery in chairs, seats, armrests. From a practical material, you can make a panel and applique. In many cases, the skin patches are not even sewn, but simply glued to the base.

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Features of working with skin

Working with natural material requires certain knowledge, skills and sewing skills. To work with leather, not only a special sewing machine is required, but also special threads, needles, adhesive materials. In addition, many tools designed specifically for working with natural material are used. All this must be taken into account in order to sew really solid and neat things from the old leather coat.

Important! The technology of sewing leather is different from sewing fabrics. The main technological feature of joining leather parts is that the seam allowances for glued seams are glued, not ironed.Therefore, before proceeding with the customization process, make sure that your sewing machine “confidently” works with the skin, that is:

• Does not skip stitch in the line.
• Does not break the needle.
• Easily moves through thick sections of material.

To make the sewing machine easier to work with the material and you can easily sew exactly what you intended from the old leather coat, listen to our recommendations:

• Be sure to buy a sewing foot for the skin. This item is for sale in a sewing supplies store.
• Get special sewing needles for working with leather.

Important! Remember that the finishing seam on a leather product needs to be done only once. If you have to dissolve the line, then there will be traces on the product from previous needle punctures.

Today there are many books on teaching the technique of sewing leather products. We only offer a few basic simple recommendations.

For each product, choose the right grade and type of skin:

• For jewelry, the same skin is suitable as for sewing gloves (like). It is soft and elastic, able to convey the most delicate nuance of small elements of the product.
• It is better to sew bags from stiffer leather, because if you sew a bag from a soft fabric, then you will have to use duplicate pads made of a denser material to give shape.
• For a fur vest with leather inserts, use dense but soft skin, as rough will “puff”, and too thin will tear at the joints.

You need to cut the skin with a special boot knife

Of course, you can also cut the material with tailor's scissors, but it is better to use a special shoe or clerical knife for this purpose.

Important! Previously, before cutting under a layer of skin, it is necessary to put a wooden board or plastic.

Working with leather is not possible without glue

Before you start working with the material, prepare a tube of shoe glue or rubber glue. It is impossible to make a high-quality product from leather without glue. It is applied to a clean and fat-free surface with a brush. Take care that the glue is not too liquid, otherwise the material will get wet.

Important! Instead of glue, you can use special adhesive tapes, which are very convenient to work with.

Work with glue as follows:

1. Apply glue to the part.
2. Set the finished part aside for a few minutes until the composition dries to a tack.
3. Repeat the procedure with glue, if you find areas of material without glue (it can be absorbed).
4. After 2-3 minutes, when the glue dries a little, press the treated area to another area of ​​the skin (without glue).
5. Remove excess adhesive immediately with a cotton swab.
6. Place glued parts under the press.
7. Lightly tap the glued elements with a hammer.

Important! Special adhesive tapes are convenient to use when replacing zippers in a leather product and pasting seam allowances. However, it should be noted that the tape tightly glues skin areas and it is very difficult to disconnect them in case of an error.

Leather Sewing Technology

Working with natural material is a rather difficult task. You must be able to use various tools, devices, take into account a lot of nuances. For example:

• When cutting paired parts, it must be borne in mind that the skin stretches in the transverse direction more than in the longitudinal. Therefore, it is necessary to cut paired elements in one direction.
• It is impossible to chip off the skin with pins and sweep with thread, since traces from the needle will remain that cannot be removed.
• Soft thin skin can be sewn on a typewriter with a regular needle (No. 80 or No. 90).
• For sewing thick and rough skin, needles with a point shape in the form of a two- or four-sided blade are used. Such needles make it easier to pierce coarse material and leave a less noticeable mark. In addition, special needles prevent gaps in the stitch and thread breakage.
• The stitch length on the sewing machine must be set to the maximum value, since in places of frequent needle punctures, the skin may tear.
• Not every machine can sew leather. Before starting work, be sure to read the instructions for the device. If it is not indicated there that you can sew leather on a sewing machine, then do not even try to experiment.
• For sewing material, use strong and elastic threads. The kapron threads that shoemakers use to repair shoes are not suitable for sewing leather goods on a sewing machine, as they are used only for handmade work and are too “twisted”.
• Fastenings on the sewing machine using the reverse stroke when sewing leather should not be done, since machine lines on such products tend to open. To avoid this, we recommend that the ends of the threads be tied with several knots from the wrong side of the product.
• Use the special foot for sewing leather goods. Such a device uses a roller or roller instead of a flat sole. The roller completely removes the resistance of the sewing foot, however, does not weaken the force of pressing the material to the rail. Using a special presser foot, you will not need to put a newspaper under the presser foot or pull the fabric towards you.
• When tailoring suede, be sure to consider the direction of the pile, because if you connect the elements of the product in different directions, they will have a different shade.
• Sew a button on a leather product only when paired with another button located on the wrong side. A duplicate button protects the skin from tearing.

Leather care

After finishing work with the material, the appearance of the product must be refreshed. For this:

1. Marking lines left during operation should be removed with soap and water.
2. Wipe the leather surface of the product with a cloth moistened with glycerin or petroleum jelly so that it regains its original shine.
3. Remove heavily contaminated areas with warm, unboiled milk, wipe with whipped protein or half an onion.
4. Clean white skin with a mixture of milk and whipped egg white.

Skin painting technology

For the procedure for painting the skin, use an aerosol can as follows:

1. Spray the paint onto a piece of leather from a distance of 20 cm. To keep the paint even, do not hold the can for too long in one area.
2. Move smoothly with the spray can along the painted surface.
3. Leave the product for 10 minutes.
4. Apply the next coat of paint.
5. Continue the staining procedure until the surface of the skin acquires a uniform color.

Important! Use spray paint only to partially “refresh” the surface of the skin. For cardinal repainting of clothes, such paint is not used.

Let's move from theory to practice and tell you what can be sewn from a leather coat. For example, if the cloak is large, then you can shorten it and sew a smaller women's or children's jacket. And the area from the bottom can be used to make a vest with a fur collar.

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How to sew a vest from a leather coat?

To get started, prepare the material for cutting:

1. Loosen and align the seams on the skin. The cutting surface should be flat.
2. Gently wipe the face of the skin with a soapy solution to give it a marketable appearance.
3. Rinse the surface of the material with a special solution: 1 cup of 9% vinegar, 50 grams of salt per 1 liter of water.
4. Lubricate the skin with glycerin so that it acquires elasticity and shine.
5. Spread genuine leather on the board with a construction stapler.
6. Leave the material to dry.

After all the procedures you will get the perfect cutting surface.

Cutting vest

For cutting the product you will need a pattern. Use any pattern matching your size from the magazine or do it yourself.

Lay out the patterns of patterns on the surface of the material and determine the length of the product. Apply the pattern to the skin with a piece of dry soap or chalk.

Important! If there is not enough material along the length or width, then the missing parts can be made from lunges, and decorative details can be made. For example, from the remaining pieces of leather you can make: inserts on the sides, coquette, straps, set-in belt at the waist, stitched belt at the bottom, shoulder straps at the shoulder seams.

Use patches of any other skin or fabric - this will give the product an originality.

For the same pattern, open the lining for a product from a suitable fabric (lining). Remember to add seam allowances.

Assemble a vest for fitting, refine the model, and make corrective changes. Transfer all changes to the lining. Stitch seams on the skin and on the lining using a sewing machine.

Connection of a fur collar with a vest

A fur collar can be reduced, if necessary, in width, and the resulting shreds can be used to lengthen it. In this case, be sure to observe the direction of the pile.

Instructions for connecting parts:

1. For the collar, prepare a lining from the lining fabric. The lining at the edges should be 0.1-0.2 cm smaller than the collar itself. For convenience, you can first make a collar layout on paper, and then make all the cuts.
2. Connect the gasket to the collar at the outer seam, and leave the inner one to be sewn into the neck and sides. Then grind on a typewriter and twist the collar to the front side.
3. Prepare strips for the front and stitch zipper to them.
4. Connect the collar to the vest along the neck and sides. The collar lining should fall into the joint seam.
5. Sew the strips with zippers to the sides to which the collar is already sewn. Under the line should fall: the sides of the product, the collar and straps.
6. Connect the lining to the neck, sides, armholes and bottom.
7. Fasten the seams with finishing stitches.

What to wear a vest with?

Vests can be long, medium or short in length. All options look very elegant. Medium and short vests can be worn instead of outerwear.

Depending on the color, the vest can be worn with different things:

• Black classic - with skirts, trousers.
• Brown Suede - Match Ethnic Style, Country & Boho.
• Wear a leather vest with fur with a woolen jumper, turtleneck, knitted tunic, jacket. A leather vest is also suitable for dresses made of wool, knitwear, acrylic.
• For a casual style, choose jeans, a sweater, or a turtleneck.

Important! A leather vest is perfect for both business and casual style. Products go well with leather shoes and bags. And if you use a leather vest for an evening look, then complement it with stylish accessories.

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Stock footage

Give life to old things, because so many beautiful stylish products can be sewn and made of leather. We wish you creative success!