Why don't you...

...make your own military jacket with flower medals?

BUTTONS:

Material: antique buttons, gold buttons bought at a haberdashery with an anchor, old gold paint, and a brush

I bought a lot of antique buttons at an antique flea market in Badajoz. They are beautiful, all gold but with different motifs: anchors, swords, shields. If you don't have flea markets nearby, the other day at Pontejos (a haberdashery in Madrid) I found gold buttons with anchors for 50 cents each, so with any luck, a large haberdashery should have them.

With my buttons, I replaced the original ones on the chest and added even more in between the gaps. Then I continued upwards and put them on the lapel as well. This part is not rocket science; it's about getting a lot of buttons and placing them however you like.

For the sleeve buttons, I no longer had any antique ones left, so I kept the original ones but painted them with old gold to match the tone of the antique ones. Old gold is a paint you can find in craft stores and it looks very good.


SLEEVES:

Material: Gold curtain/upholstery cord and gold thread

This is perhaps the most complicated part. The material is simply a gold cord that you can find in haberdasheries, specifically in the curtain and upholstery section. You have to create the shape you want and secure it with pins. Once you are happy with the design, it's time to sew it to the sleeve. There are two options:

  • Easy: you don't remove the sleeve lining and sew it directly on top. You have to be very careful not to pinch the lining so that it doesn't deform the sleeve and make it tight when you put on the jacket. You will make mistakes at some points; it won't be perfect, but the difficulty level is low, while the patience level is high.
  • Difficult: you are a perfectionist and choose to unpick the lining and completely disassemble the sleeve to sew the cord with a machine. Unpicking it is easy, and everything is wonderful until it's time to reassemble it. If you're not very skilled, I recommend the previous option.


OTHER EXTERIOR DECORATION:

Material: velvet ribbons, cotton ribbons, gold cord, decorations, flowers, charms... whatever you fancy.

For the pockets, I used sewn red velvet ribbon. On the back and lapels, I did the same but added the same gold cord from the sleeves along the edges. For the collar, I used cotton ribbon to prevent wrinkles.

The rest are things I found and sewed onto the jacket. I have decorations from when my brother did his military service, decorations bought at the antique flea market, a wool flower my grandmother made, a Japanese mobile charm that was lying around my house... whatever your imagination comes up with and your fingers have the patience to sew.

I've tried to summarize so as not to bore you, but if any part is unclear, write to me and we'll look at it. GOOD LUCK!

PD: Sorry for repeating the photo, but I don't have another one of the final result yet

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