Big progress on the jacket, cross stitch present, and more flowers

I was tired when I got home from work, but I persevered and started working on the jacket. First, the cuffs had to come off

I needed to fix the seam that went from the side of the jacket to the cuff. As you can see here the seam had come apart.

Before I fixed that I had to reinforce the other sleeve seam, a faux flat felt seam, where the thread was gone and where the seam was coming apart at the elbow. So I ripped open the seam and topstitched the faux flat felt seam.

While I was at it, I topstitched the sleeve faux flat felt seam as some of the stitching was missing.

The seam was sewn back together and reinforced where I didn't have to take it apart all the way from the side to the cuff. After I finished one side, I repeated the process on the other side.

After I reinforced the stitching on the back yoke and by the pocket on the front, I got the lining positioned for stitching. I used small binder clips to hold the lining in place. When I worked at the shop, I used binder clips all the time when constructing leather jackets. This was way before the expensive plastic clips that are sold now. Binder clips do a great job and they are inexpensive - just saying!

The lining is attached! I also had put a piece of lining fabric in the armpit of the lining and attached that to the armpit of the jacket to help keep the lining in place.

The cuffs are in rough shape. They are torn, stiff, and some of the leather is gone.

I took them out to the garage and sprayed them down with that conditioner.  It will be easier to repair them if the leather is softer.

I have used a lot of that conditioner, and it has made an incredible difference on making the leather soft and pliable again! You can see how much I have used on this jacket. It is not greasy at all.

I think I have figured out how to repair the cuffs. It all came to me this morning in the shower; that is where I do my best thinking! There is also a tear on both sleeves in this area, so an intentional looking patch will be sewn to reinforce this spot.  Thank goodness I had that piece of brown leather in my stash!  At the shop the place was overflowing with containers of scraps of fabric, Ultrasuede, and leather.  We were allowed to take anything that was going to the trash.  I can't tell you how many times I have gone into the scraps of  Ultrasuede and leather over the last 22 years to fix or repair something!

I forgot to post the picture of the two cross stitch pieces I sent my sister for her birthday so here they are.

And finally, my African violet has two more flowers!