When I found this fab green spring jacket on the back of my closet door and set about shortening the sleeves and fixing the wonky belt thing on the back, I mentioned that the only thing missing was a slippery lining. When I would put it on, my sleeves would catch in a kind of irritating way. So this is why linings were invented, I whispered with wonder.
Fresh from my experience with the brown velvet jacket, which I re-lined using a little worn blouse, I was wary of giving it a try. Well, there was that, and this green jacket had this fabulous little green and white stripe binding detail which I found absolutely charming. However…
As I was playing around with the fabulous fully lined white and red jacket, I discovered that the makers had pulled a fast one: yes, the jacket was indeed fully lined. However, the slippery stuff was patchworked; the back lining and lower cuff portions were made of white cotton. Only the upper sleeve was made of the slippery stuff!
Eureka! I found a technique to vastly improve my green jacket and not make myself crazy in the process. I dug through a pile of things my neighbor left with me to take to the donation boxes near the dump (she doesn’t have a car and knows I can sometimes make magic out of trash) and found an old boys’ size 14 windbreaker. I carefully unstitched the sleeves.
I pinned the carefully unstitched sleeves into the armholes of the green jacket and whipstitched them in place.
Truth be told, I did one sleeve in the morning before the boys and I went to the park while they were zooming around with their Playmobil playing “Sword in the Stone.” I wore the jacket that way, with only one sleeve partially lined to the park, then came home and finished the other sleeve in the afternoon.
This tiny upgrade for the jacket has made it feel so luxurious and it cost me exactly 0€. It did not require a sewing machine, just a seam ripper, a need and thread.
Sing With Your Feet 
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