Tweed jacket alteration advice needed.

[T90]

I never thought I would use this jacket, but it would appear it can be repurposed.

Its a regular old 3 button tweed sport jacket that I would like to shorten for use with my kilt.

Now after going over many of the DIY posts on the subject I believe I have the main idea when it comes to the overall alteration, however one thing I am a bit fuzzy about is how long the jacket should be in the back. Some posts mention the jacket should be as long as the arms, others say that the jacket hem should fall at the bottom of the fell and top of the pleats as to not hide the kilt.

I have long arms, and when I initially used the jacket length / arm length method the jacket was far too long and the jacket was half way down my behind. So I used the bottom of the fell method and the jacket felt far too short and looked rather odd.

One more adjustment was made and I felt as though this was a more appropriate length, I cant quite hang my sporran yet as I am still waiting on the chain, but the sporran cutout will depend on getting the jacket length correct.

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So advice, tips, pointers, whisky reviews are all welcome.

Thanks

T

[LKM]

Looking good so far. I thing the only thing you might want to add would be a cutaway for the sporran. The cutaway can bee seen in the thread http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...version-91895/

[Tarheel]

Length seems right. You are not the only "orango-armed" member among us. Without being able to let a seam out in the sleeves, I offer a perfect "Lil Abner" in photos. Your jacket doesn't appear to have my problem. As the Wiz of BC has said before, there doesn't have to be major removal of the front of a jacket to allow for the sporran. Keep us posted.

[Taskr]

IMO the length looks good. The cutaway for the sporran need not be severe; that third bottom button can probably survive. What will look 'off' is the pocket flap. If original construction makes it feasible, consider removing the flap and reattaching it at a point above the pocket opening, whilst covering said opening. Being able to raise it to even half of the flap depth can provide some 'balance'. Sewing the pocket slash closed might be helpful if you choose that option.

[T90]

So the pockets are slits that are sewn closed, no big deal really, the flap is sewn in with about 1.5" that I can move it up, so slight movement of the flap would be possible.

The third button may have to go if I need to adjust the sporran cutout any further, and if that is the case the curve would also need to move further up the jacket in order to maintain a natural appearance.

My only real concern is going to be my ability to sew the liner to the jacket outer in the same manner that it was originally manufactured.

I will keep you updated as I work along.

[Taskr]

From your concern, I surmise the liner is "properly sewed" to the jacket cloth. On my conversion, I used a machine to sew the hem of the jacket after cut-away. The edge of the liner was folded under to be just above the new hem and then affixed with a blind hand-stitch. Works just fine and not unusual on many sport/dress jackets. I think this pic shows the liner work well enough

[Todd Bradshaw]

As mentioned, the cutaway for the sporran doesn't need to be huge - especially since these jackets are so often worn unbuttoned.

This is a linen jacket that we converted for summer use. We lucked out on this one because it had patch pockets on coarse fabric. We just moved both the pockets and flaps upward. The single center vent (or what little was left of it) was just closed.

[T90]

With the sporran hanging I was better able to make an adjustment as to the cutaways, and as I suspected the bottom button and hole needed to go in order to facilitate a more natural curve.

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The viewers side left is the same as the right, I have not pressed anything yet which is why it is a bit warped looking, I just gave it a quick few stitches to hold things in place. I have a hard time with pins and poking myself.

[Terry Searl]

No Matter what any others say as long as you are happy, that's all that matters.......I had a very favourite Italian Lambs wool jacket altered and was ever so happy that I could wear it again......now I am able to wear it with another piece of clothing I really love ......my kilt

[T90]

After carefully studying the jackets worn by the folks here, I decided to let the curve out a little at the bottom, just a 1/2" makes a big difference. I have also taken the pocket flaps off and might attempt to make some new flaps with the material I cut from the bottom of the jacket.

I am likely going to sew the jacket this evening, quite frankly the sewing machine scares me, the reason being each time I have used the machine in the past I have had to spend hours using the stitch puller to undo what I had just done. Hopefully this experience will be different.

Here I am in a shirt and tie to give a better idea of how things all sit.
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