Leather Parka

How do you resize leather jacket pattern for cutting and sewing?

I want to replicate an old leather jacket that is a size 42. I am a size 48. I plan to take apart the 42 jacket and add an inch and half going around each panel. Then sew the new pieces together with a sewing machine. Will this work or is there a better way to do it?

Public Comments

1. What you'll wind up with is a real mess -- what you want to do is grading, which is not a linear process (think about it... do your shoulders get longer as your girth increases? If your body gets 6" bigger around, do your arms get 6" bigger around?) http://www.threadsmagazine.com/item/4368/making-sense-of-pattern-grading Suggestions: 1) Get a similar pattern in the right size and use it, either as is or with new style lines. It's no big deal to go from http://www.kwiksew.com/Catalog/cat_detail.cfm?pid=3251&QL=MenJacketsVest to http://www.kwiksew.com/Catalog/cat_detail.cfm?pid=3123&QL=MenJacketsVest for most people who've sewed for awhile, but it is a big deal to grade when you don't know what you're doing. 2) Take your current jacket to a sewing pro with experience in grading; tell them you want a knock-off (copy) pattern for this jacket in your size. 3) DIY grading: Knock off the current jacket in the current size using these techniques: http://www.threadsmagazine.com/item/4841/copying-complex-garments Then borrow a copy of Jack Handford's grading book and grade it up. http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/6143644&referer=brief_results #2 is the most expensive but most likely to succeed; #1 is a good compromise between cost and efficiency; #3 is for those with time and patience. You probably also need to read Sandy Scrivano's book on working with leather and you definitely will want to make the trial pattern in something like heavy denim before cutting your leather. Skins have definite spots where the leather is suitable for one part of a coat but not another.