So you want to follow along on this T-shirt to varsity jacket DIY! I am so excited you decided to join me with this unique project. But before we get started let me remind you that I have a full video tutorial available for this look. Sometimes it’s nice to see exactly what’s going on in a project like this and sometimes it’s nice to read along at your own pace. No matter what your preference is there is an option available for you. If you want to take a peek at how things are done each step as a quick jump timestamp just to make it easier to find your place.
Hopefully, this guide helps you stay connected and finish this super fun project yourself!
First off let’s take a look at some of the supplies we will need for this project.
Supplies:
– T-shirt
– Fabric Liner
– Fabric Sleeves
– Ribbing Fabric
– Interfacing
– Snaps
– Supplies for Decoration (Circut Iron-on sheets, Patches, Fabric Paints, Etc.)
General Sewing Equipment:
– Scissors
– Pins
– Seam Ripper
– Sewing Machine
– Iron or Circuit Easy Press
– (Optional) Circut Cutting Machine
– (Optional) Overlock Machine
Step 1: Examine Your Shirt 
VIDEO TIME STAMP – 3:58
When doing this T-shirt to Jacket DIY you have to think about the shirt you plan to use. T-shirts are all very different; in size, logo, style and more.
In this tutorial, my shirt has a large front logo. I want that logo to be the back of my DIY jacket. Because of this that makes the front of this shirt the back of my jacket and the back of this shirt the front of my jacket.
*If your logo is already on the back you can skip this step and proceed without swapping the back and the front.
T-shirt to Varsity Jacket DIY Continued
Step 2: Cut Your T-Shirt
VIDEO TIME STAMP – 4:25
Now, it’s time to cut your T-Shirt.
First, cut the sleeves off of each side of your shirt. Then cut a bottom strip of the length of your jacket by measuring out how long you want your finished jacket to be. But don’t throw out either of those pieces as we will need the sleeve for a pattern later as well as the strip of fabric to add to the front when we go to apply our buttons.
Next, using the back of your jacket, cut out the neckline as close to the collar seam as possible. Then bring the front of your jacket forward. Fold the front of your jacket in half and cut out a deeper neckline than you did in the back. Finally, cut the shirt piece directly in half on the fold creating two separate front pieces.
At this point, we should have 1 back jacket panel with a full logo and two front panels out of the plain T-Shirt fabric.
Step 3: Cut the Liner
And then, lay out the shapes that you just cut out from the shirt pieces on your liner fabric. In this step use the T-shirt pieces as patterns to cut out the right shapes for liner.
You should be left with two front panels of both liner and T-shirt fabric and one back panel of Tshirt and liner fabric.
T-shirt to Varsity Jacket Step 4 – Cutting the Sleeves
Layout the T-shirts original sleeve flat on the new sleeve fabric by cutting out the existing seam. Then use the arm length measurement to mark the new end to the sleeve. And use your own wrist measurement to taper the cut at a slant and cut out the new jacket sleeves.
At this point, you may discard the original sleeves of the t-Shirt.
T-shirt to Varsity Jacket DIY Continued
Step 5: Pin and Sew the Jacket Main and Liner Fabric
The next step in our T-shirt to varsity jacket DIY is to sew the main pieces together. Pin and sew the pieces in their proper locations for both the T-Shirt and liner fabric. Sew the fabric right sides facing each other along the side seams and shoulder seams being careful to leave the armhole and front of the jacket opening.
Step 6: Iron Press Seams Opened
It is very important to remember to press the seams you just made flat. This ensures a quality finish to the DIY design.
Step 7: Baste Stich the Liner into the Jacket Main
Next, insert the liner into the main jacket piece. Be careful to make sure that the wrong sides of the fabric are facing each other.
Match up the seams of both the jacket main and liner pieces to create one solid piece out of these two pieces.
Then, baste or stay stitch these two pieces together. At the beginning of this article, I mention a seam ripper. If any of the baste stitching is visible on the finished product from this step, you will need to use that seam ripper.
T-shirt to Varsity Jacket Steps 8 – Adding the Sleeves
Then, grab the new sleeves for your DIY Varsity style jacket and sew them closed making sure right sides are facing each other.
And now, it’s time to sew those closed sleeves to the main jacket by again making sure right sides are facing each other, lining up the seams and sewing each sleeve onto the Jackets armholes.
Step 9: Create Snap Button Jacket Opening Pieces
This part gets a little confusing but it’s so important with keeping the finished product clean and looking professional.
Start by measuring the opening area of your jacket and adding approximately 1.5-2inches to that measurement.
Then, grab the strip of fabric you removed from the bottom of the T-shirt originally and cut a rectangle the same length out of that fabric (width is ¼ inch more than the measurement you want your snap area to be)
Then cut a strip of liner the same length as the T-shirt strip but a width around 2 inches longer than that strip.
And now, cut out a piece of interfacing the exact same shape as that T-Shirt strip and adhere it to the T-shirt strip in whichever way your interfacing directions state to do so.
Place the right side of your liner strip onto the right side of your T-shirt strip and sew the pieces together.
Then lay the pieces flat and fold over the edge that will be at the bottom of your jacket. And sew it finished.
Finally, put these two pieces aside because we will be applying them to the main jacket after the next step concludes.
T-shirt to Varsity Jacket DIY Continued
Step 10: Cutting and Applying Ribbing (Bottom and Sleeves)
Then measure around your own wrist another strip of ribbing that length with a width double the length you want the ribbing to show on your jacket (mine is around 8 inches so that 4 inches will show on the finished product).
Sew the sleeve ribbing together at the seams then fold it over to hide that seam before sewing them onto the end of each of your sleeves.
Then fold over the bottom edge ribbing creating a 1.5-2 inch band and sew it to the bottom raw edge of your jacket (right sides facing each other).
Step 11: Adding Your Snape Closure Area to The Jacket
At this point, your jacket should almost be complete besides the snap area liner that is hanging forward.
Pull the liner fabric into the jacket and topstitch where you’ll want your jacket to close. Put a few securing stitches around the other edge of the jacket opening liner pieces to get that clean finish.
T-shirt to Varsity Jacket Step 12 – Adding Snaps
Then, measure out an area on your jacket where you’ll want to apply the snaps. Make sure to measure even amounts of space between the snaps and put a light pencil or chalk mark on the jacket for your reference.
There are a lot of different ways someone can add snaps like this to a product. I will have a full tutorial on how to do that on my YouTube channel too but for now please refer to the video above at approximately 11:45 for a very quick rundown of how I applied my snaps.
I am not detailing the application process here because not everyone has the same kind of snaps. If your snaps are not like mine then follow your own directions on how to put the snaps in the correct location on the jacket.
Step 13: Adding Ribbing Collar
The final step in completing this DIY Shirt to Jacket alteration is adding a ribbing collar to the final piece.
To do this measure the length of the raw neck exist area and cut a piece of ribbing that length by approximately 4 inches wide.
Apply the collar ribbing in the same way as we did the bottom raw edge; making sure the right sides are facing each other.
After you sew the collar to the main jacket you are all done with the DIY project. But don’t stop there because there is an option step that is simply to fun to not try!
T-shirt to Varsity Jacket DIY Continued
Step 14 (Optional): Decorating your Jacket
Next, to complete this look and really make the jacket seem like a varsity-style jacket decorate the final piece. Using things like iron on decals, paints or patches really makes your piece come to life. This is a fun part to add a personal touch to your look.
On my piece, I drew a digital drawing of a retro Super Mario style mushroom on adobe illustrator and cut the design out using iron-on vinyl sheets at my circuit machine.
But this is again your area to shine so adding your own unique personal touches to this piece is best. Think of the best places of your jacket to decorate like the tops of the sleeves and chest area; or if you don’t have a big logo on the back as I do then the back is a great place to add a personal touch or two as well!
And with that our DIY T-Shirt to Varsity jacket is complete. I know it gets a little complicated but I hope this helped you make your very own T-shirt to varsity-style jacket.
Finally, thank you very much for stopping by and learning with me. I hope to see you for my next DIY project!
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