Tailoring a leather jacket

Hi guys!

Just a quick question about taking in the waist of a leather jacket. I'm new to this stuff, and I certainly know that regular jackets can be taken in. Are there any special rules or risks to altering leather? This jacket costed my (female) friend quite a bit, so I don't want to offer her any shoddy advice.

And any reccomendations for tailors that live in Vancouver specializing in leather are much appreciated as well

Thank you!

I had a leather jacket that i wanted taken in at the waist (just ever so slightly), but gave up and sold it.

There are no special rules that I'm aware of except that you need someone who has done leather work before.

The risks are severe in that a tailor will only get one chance. It's hard to come back from a mistake with leather.

the leather jacket I had was bought from Neiman Marcus and it was a nice jacket, but like I said I wanted it taken in at the waist. The tailors there were pretty competent and pretty much said they could do what I wanted, but they also seemed hesitant too.

Originally Posted by BYucko

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Hi guys!

Just a quick question about taking in the waist of a leather jacket. I'm new to this stuff, and I certainly know that regular jackets can be taken in. Are there any special rules or risks to altering leather? This jacket costed my (female) friend quite a bit, so I don't want to offer her any shoddy advice.

And any reccomendations for tailors that live in Vancouver specializing in leather are much appreciated as well

Thank you!

I've always wondered about altering the sleeves on leather jackets. Normally, wearing a short jacket, I've shied away from leather jackets because I always heard it was hard to get them altered.

i need to know about this as well. i have a nice Guess leather jacket for years that i enjoyed, but now after losing so much weight, it fits like a balloon.

So I guess the best advice would be not to tailor it then?

And would anyone know if there would be any cost increase?

Originally Posted by BYucko

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So I guess the best advice would be not to tailor it then? And would anyone know if there would be any cost increase?
If you can find a willing tailor who does leather work, by all mean do it. Just make sure you know what you want and weather he/she can do it. In theory there shouldn't be any higher than a regular jacket - it's just a different material.

I've had a leather jacket altered before with good results. (Had the body slimmed down significantly) I had to leave my jacket with the tailor for a few days for him to open up the lining and examine, then he gives me a yay or nay as far as alterations. After that, it went as normal.

A few things to consider:
1) It probably will cost you more (it did me) leather's apparently harder to work with and you can't make mistake that requires you to undo a seam.

2) Depending on the seam you're trying to get and the stich style, you can't make minute alterations since whatever seam you undo needs to be folded away completely because it is going to have stitch holes all through it. Those holes obviously can't be closed up. This is also why you can't make a mistake that requires you to undo a seam.

3) Be sure you KNOW what you want. Again, this is because you can't make a mistake that requires you to undo a seam.

4) You can't make a mistake that requires you to undo a seam. (recurring theme much?)

Originally Posted by Roikins

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I've always wondered about altering the sleeves on leather jackets. Normally, wearing a short jacket, I've shied away from leather jackets because I always heard it was hard to get them altered.

Try Johnson Leathers in San Francisco. They do nothing but leather jackets (and pants for motorcyclists) and stuff like custom work for movie wardrobes and short runs for high end dealers.
They do bespoke and definitely would know how to alter jackets. They do this all day long.

I have a leather jacket that fits fine on the waist and chest, but the sleeves are just to baggy and I hate that. Leather jackets tend to look much better when somehow closely fit to the body.