How to Upcycle your Trench Coat into a Chic Skirt

Turn an old trench coat into a fashionable skirt!

 

Materials:

  1. Iron
  2. Measuring Tape
  3. Scissors
  4. Pins
  5. Trench Coat

We’ve seen a lot of great trench pieces on the runways, a really big trend for this Spring/Summer Season. Trench coats, skirts, deconstructed pieces, are what I was inspired by and I thought well I can DIY this, and not pay $800!

Because of the structure and how well they’re made, trench coats are a great garment to repurpose into something more wearable. There are always so many options to pick form, any thrift or vintage store you walk into usually has racks of trench coats! So my ultimate DIY is repurposing a trench coat into an everyday wearable skirt!

A few tips for what you should look for when it comes to deciding what kind of coat want to use: Look at colour, look at sizing, you want something that fits comfortably at the bottom of the jacket, you don’t want too much space because your skirt will be way too big.

Depending on how great you are at sewing, you may want to look at the length of the coat. If you’re not a great sewer and don’t want to bother with hemming a skirt that is too long you may want to find a shorter coat to use. If you’re great at sewing, then length doesn’t really matter because you can cut the bottom to your desired length and hem.

Another great thing to look for is the original detailing. Does it have a belt, does it have detailing on the back pick up the purple coat.

So for this DIY we’re going to need our trench coat, some heavy duty scissors, fabric glue, pins, an iron and a sewing machine!

  1. So first, we’re going to lay our jacket flat, and cut all the way across from the underarm seam. Set this piece aside, we’ll come back to it later
  2. Next, we’re going to fold down our waist to create a one inch hem, pin as you go
  3. Iron down to ensure no creases. At this stage you can either fabric glue or sew the hem
  4. Now back to piece we had set aside. Cut the sleeves off, and then fold it inside out to cut the lining out, this way, it wont be so bulky when we reattach the sleeves
  5. Now, we’re going to lay our sleeves out flat and fold from the wider part to create a rectangular shape and pin
  6. Then fold from the top to create a tack and pin, this will create a pleat and give the sleeve some shape
  7. Now we’re going to sew the sleeves onto the side seam of the skirt. You’re going to sew it two inches below the waist, this will give it a great high waist effect.
  8. Now, all you have to do is tie the sleeves together however tight you want them, and you’ve got yourself a trench skirt!

This is great so we don’t have to have an actual waist band, we can adjust the tightness of the skirt based on how we tie the sleeves together

Here is some inspiration!

DECONSTRUCTED TRENCH SKIRT $695.00

DECONSTRUCTED TRENCH SKIRT $695.00

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