Decorating Your Own Vintage Denim Jacket | Live Lovely DIY

Ever since dreaming of doing a Route 66 road trip (a wish of mine since I was about fifteen yours old!) I dreamed of owning a vintage denim jacket with fringe and decals for road tripping adventures. I am currently working on making the Route 66 road trip come true for my 30th birthday next year, yet now in the present day I decided to make that dream jacket for our recent trip to Arizona. 

The project came to mind when I tried to find a fringed denim jacket in stores and online, but could not find one that fit my vision for under $200! I don’t know how adding some decals and fringe to a denim jacket could hike up the price so much, even on crafty sites like Etsy. So I fell back on my mantra; if you can’t find it then make it. I’m going to show you how I made my own with some tips to help you decorate a vintage denim jacket for yourself. 

You will need just a few things: An affordable denim jacket (preferably vintage styled), Faux Leather Fringe Trim, 3 yards (2 of these as one will not be long enough), no-sew permanent fabric glue (the one pictured here is the stuff I tried first and it didn’t work so great), letter patches (optional), ribbon or patches (optional), and decals (also optional).

The permanent no-sew fabric glue is so important. I accidentally started with the wrong one and the fringe peeled off. I ordered another and made sure it would be permanent and so far I haven’t had any problems with the fringe coming off. I used this one: Aleene’s Fabric Fusion Permanent Fabric Adhesive

The inspiration for my jacket came from Lana Del Rey’s music video for her song “ride.” I loved the vintage vibe of the video and the jacket she wears looks amazing and like a lot of fun. I have imagined making a jacket like this one for years now. I’m glad I finally made it. 

I found my 80’s style acid wash denim jacket at Forever 21 for under $35 a few months ago. You can still find similar ones on their website or on Amazon. You don’t need an expensive jacket for this project.These are a few more before photos of the jacket. 

A note about the fringe: The fringe I found on Amazon here.  I had to buy two packs as one was just a little too short to make it across the entire back of the jacket. I wanted my fringe to be white, but you can go with whichever color you desire. I preferred my fringe to be 6″ in length. Anything shorter was not flowy enough for the look I was going for and everything longer was just too much for me. I felt like anything longer would get in the way. It took me a while to find the perfect fringe as I could not find what I was looking for anywhere until I finally found this one. The reviews for it were really bad so I was nervous about the purchase. Yes, it does have a strong odor like the reviews said, but honestly, it wasn’t as terrible as I imagined and it aired out after a week and was fine. If you purchase this fringe, take it out of the package and let it air out by a window for a little while and it won’t be a problem. 

I glued the fringe under the seems using the no-sew glue on the back starting with the end of the sleeve and going all the way across. To reinforce the glue, you might want to stitch the fringe onto the jacket to secure it, but with the permanent glue I have not had any problems so far. I glued it and let it sit our to dry overnight. You can cover the seem with a colorful ribbon if you so choose.

I was able to put the fringe on in time for our trip to Arizona, but I still have more to do that I will add over time. Eventually I will add some lettering on the back to spell out “Live Lovely.” You can spell out a specific phrase or your name. I had a hard time locating letter patches at first, especially because they came in alphabet packages instead of singles and I needed three letter L’s. Thankfully I found this site on Etsy where you can buy single letters for only fifty cents each! I bought everything I needed to spell out “live lovely.” I will be adding them to the jacket soon. 

For now, I’m really happy with the results! What do you think? 

My cousins and grandmother think it looks like a jacket my great aunt Irene used to wear. She lived in Arizona for several years and also loved her fringe jackets. It is a fun way to feel like I’m on an adventure. 

For the final touch, you can add some extra fringe on the seems in the front of the jacket or add some decals for extra pi-zazz. I currently haven’t found the decals I am looking for so I have not added any as of yet, but I am looking forward to adding to the jacket as time goes on. I’m thinking some pearl and rhinestone decals on the front will pull it all together quite nicely. If you make a jacket of your own, I would love to see the results! Leave me a message and hashtag your photo with #livelovely. Please share this post with your friends!