Safety Pin Jacket

A while ago I bought a package of 200 safety pins for a specific purpose and only used up about 50 of them. A few weeks later I looked at the pins and thought that they kinda looked like feathers. I took a pinstripe jacket out of my closet and used the safety pins to make a pair of wings on the back. I got a lot of compliments on that jacket, so I ended up making several more . This is my most recent one.

Step 1 You will need:

1: A jacket made of something sturdy but not too thick. You will be putting a lot of pins into this thing, so thin fabric is likely to tear. Fabric that is too thick will be harder to work with. (I've used a few denim jackets before, which have worked pretty well, but something like polyester or a wool blend is easier.) Jackets with lining are nice, because then it is possible to hide the backs of the pins by only pinning through the top layer of fabric. Also, choose something with a simple pattern that won't overwhelm your pin design.

2: Safety pins of various sizes. (For this jackets I used size 0, 1, 2, and 3 steel and brass pins.)

3: A light colored pencil or chalk

4: A needle and thread

5: Optional: a dressmaker's dummy. This is very useful because it lets you see the overall effect of the image as you work. I like being able to constantly see what the worn jacket looks like, but working this way is harder on your arms. You also need to be careful not to pin th jacket to the dummy, as many of them are fabric-covered.

Comments

[charge22807]

what if you pined with the sharp point out, slid beads onto the safety pins and had the beads showing on the outside instead??

[Thundertydus]

Ohmygod, Firstly, great ibby, and I love your hair. Secondly; You look exactly like me, only, female, my friends always say I look very feminine, but, Wow, I'm- err, You're beautiful.

[Junebugbanjo]

Wow, this really cool! I'll have to remember to get a package of safety pins when I'm next out!

[Phsycoduckie]

Okey I like this idea allot. But being the weird kid i am im worried. I would like to make one but im a guy and yeah it seems more like a girl thing comments ideas??????

[Miscelinious]

This is one i made last night:

[Smexy Dead]

Beautiful! I'm a fan of your minimalistic approach. Thanks for sharing :D

[Miscelinious]

Thank you for the idea. (:

[crafthooligan111]

this is so awesome, i am totally going to try this. Thanks!!

[RoboChic99]

Oh this is awesome; I gonna try this on one of my jackets =].

[Jeannie Marie]

Since you are usually wearing jackets over other clothes, they usually will only need a spot cleaning if something spills on them. If you do feel its getting a bit smelly, you can always pour vodka in a spray bottle, dose it with the alcohol and then let air dry or let a fan blow on it for faster results. Vodka is a little trick us wardrobe crews use because it kills the stink-causing bacteria, and once dry, will no longer smell like alcohol. Febreeze can be used, but it layers its own scent over the fabric, which doesn't always go with your own perfume, and can cause allergic reactions. oh, and the cheaper the vodka, the better!

[Smexy Dead]

Awesome! I'm so glad someone could provide a solution for the cleaning problem since I didn't know what to do. Thank you so much!

[Th33w0krap15t]

Febreeze works just great on that stuff. It's my best friend when it comes to unwashable/borderline dirty clothes.

[liquidblackout]

If you really did want to dry clean your jackets after wearing them for a long time, I'm think it should be fine. They don't really do anything very rigorous to them and I doubt the colours would come off that easily, but ask your dry cleaner first just in case.

In response the comment above, I think rubbing alcohol should work, too. It's even cheaper and very pure.

Great instructable and beautiful work!

[RainedOnDreams]

I would be careful about the rubbing alcohol. I've had it discolor some of my darker jackets before.

[happylue]

Loved this so much that i did it to my bass bag, its soo cool, everyone loves it

[BlissfullyDoomed]

Beautiful. Thanks for the idea.

[riceWitAdobo]

this.is,AMAZING.

[codongolev]

this kid tried to do this on a hoodie once. except he didn't know what he was doing and did a general outline of a kinda sketchy sword. it didn't look good. you've gotta know what you're doing with this.

[annafavela]

OH MY.... that's soo... Sexy and cute! o.o *rubs her face on his pins*

[Smexy Dead]

Thanks! Just make sure all the pins are closed... those things are sharp. (I tend to hold a few in my mouth when I work, and sometimes I forget to make sure they're pointing outwards...)

[thinker]

hahaha
I DID THIS ON MY JEANS!!!
like
a month or so ago!!
And ive only Just found this instructable!!
*feels proud of having a cool idea*
i did flames from the bottom going up, with smaller pins as embers.
I thought it looked absolutely Ace
but i got SO much jip from everyone around here i just took em out
well
that and i was frightened of running in case i got stabbed in the leg

ButButButBut
the reason for this comment is
i have a few spare suit jackets and such
cheapo ones like
and ive been wondering what to do with them
and you have re-instored my faith in this medium of design
=]

[shyamiko]

could you upload a picture of them?

[Smexy Dead]

Yaayyy! I'm so glad I helped!

[annafavela]

haha! yeaah it's like when you make yourself clothes and forget to remove the needles! : D

[Seanzee]

Where do you get those jackets? they're really cool and i want one :D -Seanzee

[Smexy Dead]

I get most of my jackets at Goodwill 'cuz it's cheap and there's so much random stuff you're bound to find something cool.

[Seanzee]

Yeah I shop there all the time as well, my town has quite a few local thrift stores too that have more vintage stuff, you're lucky those jackets fit you, though. Most of the stuff I get needs alterations, luckily I can do it myself.

[$ NAB $]

This Instructable is way too cool.You made me become a big fan.

[Kaitlinthegreat]

Very cool!

[BlindSight]

I'm discovering your instructables, and I'm positively surprised. Great job.

[originalwynne]

what size safety pins should i use? i know you said size 0, 1, 2, 3 but can you tell me in mm please? thanks. :)

[Smexy Dead]

... Um... (grabs ruler) Size one appears to be 25 mm, size two looks to be about 38, and size three seems to be 50 mm. Size zero looks the same length as 1, but they're teenier somehow. Basicallyu, you just go with the size that looks best with the design. (I end up using size 1 the most though.)

[originalwynne]

cheers :) now i just have to go and buy them ^_

[originalwynne]

woah that totally ROCKS!! i am soooooo gonna try that!

[ch3rry]

beautiful work! you have a great imagination - keep using it.

[Ward_Nox]

could u but up the patterns for other designs?

[Smexy Dead]

Well, I don't have the other designs documented this extensively, but if you want to look at my other jackets, they're all posted on my website. I'm also making another wing jacket now, and I'll post it as soon as it's finished.

[CostumeGal]

Warning to girls with long hair: I had safety pins all over the back of my jeans jacket, and I had long curly hair (can you tell this was the '80s?) and my hair kept getting caught on the pins...but everyone thought the jacket was cool so I kept wearing it, of course! Il faut souffrir pour être belle!

[megziewoodles]

That looks pretty sweet. I think I'd do my shoes up in safety pins if I did anything. Won't they rust when you wash them, though? Or have you got superduperawesome pins?

[newkiraj]

no i dont think they will rust... a few of my pairs of pants have safety pins all the way down both legs and havnt rusted but sometimes a few come of in the washer xD