It's a tricky alteration, Stag! As Irina suggested, and I agree with her assessment.

The welt needs to be tighter for a more blouson effect. The sleeves seem long too. I see you've tucked the cuff under - do you think so too?

Angie, thanks so much for weighing in!
We didn’t discuss the sleeves at all—they just kind of fold that way by themselves—but I see what you mean. So I will ask them to do that and make the welt tighter. I assume the sleeves will have to stay as big around as they are, because that’s how big the holes for them are. But is there anything else that should be changed?

Yeah what Irina said. The style is completely changed, to something less current. But if you’re happy with it

Clarifying, I realize you don’t necessarily care about trends, but with upcycling stuff, it’s a very tricky path.

Your posts are always such an adventure Fash! Thanks for bringing us along for the ride.

If I understand, you had the jacket altered because you felt it was on the larger side? It looks totally fine now, let sunk costs be, and don't spend any more on alterations. Wear your jacket with a smile! That would be my advice.

Aw, thanks Synne! At this point, I don’t think it would cost any more to have the waistband taken in—I paid for them to take it down a size, and the waistband seems unchanged, so they haven’t finished the job, and I haven’t picked it up yet. Also, I much prefer the classic varsity jacket shape, with a welt at the bottom. As Annagybe points out, I have no clue if that’s “in” right now, and don’t really care, but it’s what attracted me to these jackets.

Annagybe, I hadn’t considered getting a new item tailored/altered as upcycling, but I suppose there’s a similarity. The jackets are made from remnants, so they are classic upcycling in that sense.

So I stopped by today, wearing my blue/yellow/black plaid jacket so I could show her exactly what I want. She said the welt (yellow) on the plaid jacket is heavier than the material for the body, but the material for the body of the new jacket is much heavier than the elastic/ribbing for the welt, so if she made it tighter it would stretch out after just one wear. That fabric is indeed kinda thin, and might just be ribbing with no elastic. I don’t see why it would bag out so easily, but I assume she knows her stuff. We discussed for a minute. At first she wanted to send me around the corner to get tougher elastic to make the welt, but then I popped back into her shop to ask specifics on exactly what I was supposed to buy (I think she wanted me to get something in just the right color). She wound up saying that she had elastic to put into the currently-existing welt to make it tighter. I go back on Monday. Fingers crossed it’ll be ready for me to take when we fly on Thursday! (I asked if it could be done earlier—no, because they are redoing the whole shop tomorrow). I have faith that we will work out something acceptable eventually. Neither one of us is a native speaker of German, so our conversations about welts and ribbings and things kinda make me laugh.

Finally got back to the tailors to pick it up. What do you think? Is the bottom elastic tight enough? Do the sleeves look right?

Yes, I think the welt issue has been resolved. Sleeves also look good.

From what I can see in #1 and #4, it's a better fit after alteration!

Angie and Rachylou, thanks! I thought the shape was better with the band, wasn’t sure if that was real or wishful thinking. Appreciate you taking a look.