Our stylist to the stars, Mrs Jones, let us behind her studio doors and revealed her top tips for customising those items you’ve loved for years, never worn or just found in our huge selection of clothes & accessories from our Oxfam Online Shop.
If your suit fits ok, wack it on (or borrow a friend the same size!) and tuck your jacket into the trousers. Mark where the jacket sits comfortably, with chalk or pins (try to keep the trousers low slung).
Take the suit off and cut off the bottom of the jacket one inch below the marked line. This new cut off strip of jacket is your new waistband. Then cut off the waistband of the trousers and discard.
Your new waistband will likely need the back vents of the jacket stitching down to make it into one strip. Remove and scraps of lining hanging off and iron flat.
Line up your trousers and jacket edges and measure to make sure they are the same size. A few darts (pinch the material together and sew on the inside to reduce the overall size) may be needed to ensure that all of the parts fit together.
Once the jacket and trousers are the same size, stitch the edges of your waistband together to the same size as well. Turn your whole jumpsuit inside out to sew together so all of the seams are on the inside and stitch the jacket to waistband and then trousers to the bottom of the waistband and Voila! Jumpsuit.
Get started with our range of second-hand suits...
Illustrations by Rose Stallard for Oxfam DIY
www.rosestallard.com
www.rosestallard.com
