In this beginner-friendly clothes upcycling and sewing tutorial, I’ll explain the steps I often take to alter a coat that's too big.
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I picked up this animal print trench coat for $5.00. It was brand new and still had the tag attached.
Because I have basic sewing and upcycling skills, I am not restricted by what I buy based on size - I thrift based on fabric and style, knowing I can alter it to fit and that’s what I did with this jacket.
It was a bit big for my frame and, because trench coats have a lot of fabric and this one being a busy animal print, I like them to fit properly so it doesn’t look like the coat is wearing me.
The first step was to remove the belt loops, saving these for later.
This coat wasn’t lined so it was an easy alteration. I decided to simply take in the side seams from under the sleeve, down to the bottom hem.
First, I cut off the bottom hem so I could sew a straight seam. This would reduce the bulkiness at the bottom when taking in the side seams. It would also create a neater bottom hem after taking in the side seams.
Next, I pinned the side seams, trying it on and adjusting accordingly before sewing the new seams on the sewing machine.
Then I resewed the bottom hem. Had I wanted to reduce the length down to a blazer, I could have taken the hem up at this stage. I decided to keep it as a long trench coat.
Next, I took up the sleeves because they were too long. Luckily, there was a current sleeve hem in place that I could use as a guide and simply turn it over to shorten the sleeves.
When upcycling and altering clothes, I always look for shortcuts.
Then, I had to alter the front lapel. Because the original sizing was larger, after I made the coat width small, the lapels were oversized and overwhelmed the front of the coat. The reduce them down I simply reduced and re-hemmed the lapels. This was easy and made a lot of difference.
And finally, to keep the lapels down as they had a tendency to lift up, I found some matching buttons in my button stash and sewed them at the corner of the lapel. Again, this was a small change but made a big difference.
And here it is finished. While the before and after photos don’t look drastically different, the difference when wearing the trench is dramatic. With a few sewing skills, I can easily alter any garment so it fits me well and I feel confident wearing it. Best of all, it doesn’t languish at the back of my wardrobe because, every time I put it on, it doesn’t feel right.
This is a quick clothes upcycling project that could be done within an hour or so.
Thanks for watching,
BEX.
My clothes upcycling and sewing tutorials include:
* how to alter clothes that are too big to fit
* clothes altering tips
* trench coat altering
* alter a trench coat
* trench coat upcycle
* how to upcycle clothes ideas
* clothes upcycling
* upcycling clothes ideas
* upcycling clothes before and after videos
* sewing tutorials for beginners
* easy sewing tutorials
* clothing refashion ideas
* sustainable fashion DIY
* revamp old clothes
* creative ways to upcycle clothes
* refashion thrifted clothes
* upcycling clothes without sewing
Second Life Upcycling is about altering and upcycling clothes to give them a second life, inspiring people to recycle, repurpose, refashion, reuse, and rethink. On this channel, you'll find easy, quick, and simple step-by-step clothes upcycling tips and easy sewing tutorials. I have been thrifting, second-hand shopping, and sewing for 30+ years. I started thrifting in the 1980s. My passion is following an ethical style when it comes to my clothing choices and living an environmentally friendly life. I rarely buy new clothes (or anything new for that matter), instead shopping second hand at shops, Goodwill, Vinnies, Salvos and flea markets.