Have I mentioned how much easier it is to work on my duct tape dress model? Well, it is, and it’s much kinder on the back than bending over a table.

Working in short breaks and bits of spare time, I’ve refashioned the jacket ready for painting. First I attacked it with red chalk, then I snipped and unpicked until it was the shape I wanted.

With the shoulder pads gone, those weird shoulders still looked weird. It actually had a seam along the top of the sleeve, so I tried it on to see if I could pinch it flatter. Unfortunately, this revealed a problem I hadn’t noticed in the store:

The designer obviously didn’t expect the wearer to ever raise their arms above their head. Or even out to the side.

So I gave it a more critical look. The weirdness was more than just the shape of the shoulders. The sleeves, instead of being set at an angle to the body to allow a little room for movement, actually went straight down. Have another look at the first photo, and you’ll see what I mean.

Painting the fabric would only make it stiffer, which would turn it into a pretty straightjacket. So the sleeves had to go. I consoled myself that it was less fabric to paint, and painting under the arms would have been a challenge anyway.

So, a little machine sewing and hand sewing later, the Painted Jacket Vest was ready.

And the sleeves gave me something to test combinations of gesso, acrylic mediums and paint on.

Here’s the jacket I bought for my crazy ‘jacket that looks like it was made from a painting’ project:

The fabric is like a very light linen canvas. However, those shoulder pads look ridiculous and have to go. And double breasted jackets don’t suit me, so I’ll be changing it to a simple v-neck style.