My Thrifted Faux Fur Jacket Fix

Have you ever left something behind at the thrift shop only to have it haunt your thoughts until you’re forced to go back and see if it’s still there waiting for you?

Such was the case with this fabulous vintage faux fur jacket – did I mention it’s REVERSIBLE?

I’d originally left it behind because it was full of rips and tears, smelled very vintage and was missing all but 2 of its 8 buttons yet was priced at $17.99 – not at all a good deal. As the days passed that silly, damaged coat just wouldn’t leave my mind so I promised my brain that if it was there on my next thrifting trip I’d see if I could snag it for a better price and give it the refashionista TLC it deserved.

Spoiler alert: The jacket was there (but I had a bit of a panicky hunt for it as it had been hung on a different rack) and I got it for free as it was so damaged and musty, yay! (It absolutely pays to chat with and get to know the staff at the thrift shops you frequent)

Take a closer look at the damage and discover how I mended and deodorized it with My Thrifted Faux Fur Jacket Fix:

It seemed like everywhere I looked had some kind of rip or tear that needed mending. Fortunately most of them were along the seams and were easily hand-stitched closed.

After sewing up all of the holes I removed the 2 remaining buttons and gave it all of my vintage cleaning know-how to deodorize and launder the smells and stains out of the fluffy fabric. (a pre-wash vinegar/water soak + baking soda added to the wash cycle did the trick!)

I searched through my vintage button stash & managed to find these 8 groovy squares that seemed to fit through the button holes nicely.

I carefully positioned and stitched them on either side of that awesome reversible jacket.

And discovered that, due to the thick faux fur and doubled-up buttons, they no longer fit through the button holes and I had to remove them and start again, argh! (how fab did they look though?!) 

Back to my vintage button stash for 8 more beauties of a much better shape and size!

Hooray! These buttons slide through the holes easily + look awesome too!

Check out all of my tutorials for gals here and then continue your passion for upcycling and refashion with my E-courses right over here and transform your entire wardrobe for pennies with my groovy CoaR tutorial Ebook collections right here: