Can You Get Leather Jackets Tailored? 5 Factors To Consider

can you get a leather jacket tailored

We have all been there. You go to a store and see the perfect leather jacket, but it is too big or too small. The sleeves are too long, or the waistline doesn’t fit right. Even though you love the style of the leather jacket, you know that it will never be perfect for your body type. So what do you do? Get over it and walk away? Or ask if they can tailor your new leather jacket so that it fits like a glove on every area of your body?

In this article, we’ll discuss if you can get a leather jacket tailored and a couple of other details to help make your new purchase or old outfit fit just right!

So can you get a leather jacket tailored? There are many ways leather jackets can be altered such as: adding length via sleeves, hemming cuffs, waistband; removing widths by tapering sleeve hems; altering pockets; replacing zippers with new ones, etc. However, there are a couple of factors you would want to consider like cost and type of leather used before tailoring your leather jackets.

To learn more about tailoring your leather jackets, keep reading this article.

Factors That Determine If You Can Get Leather Jackets Tailored

There are a couple of factors that will help determine if you can get your leather jackets tailored or not. While tailoring leather is possible, it will come down to you and which of these factors you consider important.

1. The Type Of Leather Used To Make The Jacket

For some leather jackets, you may only be able to tailor if your leather jacket is a natural, untreated hide.

If it’s made of faux or artificial fur then tailoring can often damage and even destroy the coat. You will need to decide on what kind of leather you want before purchasing because not all types of leather materials are suitable for altering.

2. The Style Of Leather Jacket You Have

Another factor that can determine whether or not you can tailor your leather jacket will be based on the style or design of the leather jacket.

Some leather jackets will come with certain details that will make it almost impossible to alter them as these details often get in the way.

Details like pockets, zippers, flaps, ribbing, etc will often times get in the way of certain alterations.

Also, if the leather jacket has special features on the inside like an insulation system or a moisture-wicking lining that could also get in the way of the alteration.

3. Skill Level And Experience

If you have a simple design without too much detail on it, this will make altering easier. Also, if you find your leather jacket has buttons and other findings and fittings that can easily be removed and restitched, then tailoring could be smooth sailing.

Another factor to consider that will help you know if you can tailor a leather jacket or not is your skill level if you will be doing the alteration yourself – otherwise, you will need the services of a professional.

It might be difficult to find someone who has the necessary skillset and experience to do high-quality work when altering your leather jacket.

The individual must know how best to take care of various types of fabrics including natural ones so that any type of sensitive materials.

The key takeaway is if you are not skilled in the matter, it is better to have a professional tailor your leather jacket for you so that they can guarantee its quality and make sure all of the features will be preserved.

4. Availability Of Special Machinery

One disadvantage of tailoring a leather jacket is that it may require special machineries, such as an industrial sewing machine and other machines to reattach or similar.

This means you will need to find the right person who can tailor your garment and use these machines for you – which could be difficult if not impossible in some cases.

5. Price: Tailoring Leather Jackets Can Be Expensive

If you’ve never had a leather jacket tailored before, it’s likely that you’re not aware of the costs involved.

This is another as professional tailors are going to charge more than what they would normally charge for regular alterations made on garments like cotton or polyester blends.

A tailor will charge between $25 and $150 for basic alterations to suit your needs. And of course, it will depend on which part of the world you are in.

It might not seem like so much money at first but when comparing the price of an entirely new leather jacket with half-off deals available in stores, it’s easy to see why some people are hesitant about taking their jackets into alteration shops for minor adjustments instead.

I have had so many instances where tailoring a single seam or hem is essentially the same cost as buying an entirely new outfit and because I’m cheap, I returned home without putting a needle on my leather jacket.

So instead of going through all that to possibly get a leather jacket tailored, I will later share with you some tips to help you get your new purchase or old outfit to fit just right!

Parts Of The Leather Jacket That Are Difficult To Alter

  • Some of the parts of the leather jacket that are often very difficult to alter or tailor are the zipper, collar, pockets, etc.
  • The zippers are often not removable from the leather jacket after they have been sewn in place by an expert tailor – meaning that if you want to change anything about your zip or how it opens, then this will be impossible unless you find a professional who can do this for you.
  • You may also need to move all of the other pieces around on your garment so that everything is still tight enough together.
  • Collar and pocket alterations will likely require special machinery as well which means using someone with access to these machines and has the experience tailoring coats like yours in order to successfully make any changes without ruining its features such as shape or finishing details.
  • Other parts of the leather jacket that is difficult to also alter are the sleeves, the shoulders, and how they fit you.
  • On the other hand, when it comes to altering leather jackets, many people will often find that the easiest part will generally be its seams.
  • “It’s worth mentioning that any time there is a major adjustment made (such as taking out too much material) it will always change the way your jacket looks so take this into account when deciding whether or not you want tailoring done.”

Important Tips Before Altering Your Leather Jackets

  • Before you decide to have your leather jacket tailored, make sure you understand the pros and cons of this decision.
  • Remember you can always go shopping for new clothes or find other ways to dress up an outfit without tailoring anything!
  • Get professional help before you start altering your leather jacket. Most professionals in this field can tell right away what needs adjusting and where those adjustments need to go.
  • Find out how much tailoring will cost and whether it is worth it to you upfront.
  • Find out how long it will take for the tailoring to be done. Know that it can take anywhere from two weeks up to six months for alterations depending on where you go so if given enough time to think about it then I recommend doing just that!
  • Take the time to find a good tailor or alteration shop that can work on all different types of garments, not just leather jackets but things like suits as well if there are any issues with the fit there.
  • Look for a tailor or alteration shop that can stitch in new zippers, adjust pockets, and do other little adjustments without doing major alterations to the garment.
  • The tailoring process is not something you want to go into blindly so make sure you are fully prepared before starting any job on your leather clothing.
  • Before anything else, take measurements of the areas that will need adjusting and write them down somewhere where you won’t lose them because if you don’t know how much material needs to be added (or taken away) then good luck finding out!
  • When making measurements make sure you’re standing up straight but relaxed.
  • If you don’t have a tailor or alteration shop in mind, make sure to do some research on the best and most trusted shops for the type of alterations that need to be done. You can also ask friends who they go to if you’re not confident about where to start.
  • Ask yourself these questions before taking your leather jacket to the tailor. Bring it down to the most important reasons why you would really want to alter your leather jacket. For example;
  • Are you trying to slim your jacket?
  • Do you need more arm room in the sleeves or torso of the jacket?
  • Is there a big difference between measurements on one side of the leather and another side (usually this means it’s too tight)?

These are a few of the questions you need to ask yourself.

Conclusion

This concludes this article on whether you can get your leather jackets tailored, how, and when you should get your jackets tailored. Thank you so much for reading! If this article was helpful please share it with friends and family 🙂 xoxo.

Kwabena

Hi! I’m Kwabena, the owner and founder of Favored Leather. I’m a huge Leathercraft enthusiast and I’ve been that for almost 13 years now. I'm excited to share my experiences and all the new stuff I learn each day about leather craft, leather cleaning & care, and everything in-between!

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