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Desperately Seeking Susan Jacket

Posted on October 16, 2014July 27, 2015 by Martha

For this year’s Halloween costume, my daughter, Emily, requested the iconic Madonna jacket from the movie, Desperately Seeking Susan. Recreating this jacket was one the most fun Halloween garments I’ve ever made, and I’m really happy with the way it turned out.

Finding just the right fabrics was tricky, because Emily and I are kind of obsessive about wanting her costumes to look as much like the original as possible. The boucle fabric was a really good color match, and it has a lot of texture to it. To simulate the gold threads in the original jacket, I rubbed some fine gold glitter into the fabric. The collar and cuffs are printed stretch denim and the pyramid is a loopy textured gold fabric. The pyramid and the scroll edging were embroidered by hand — the eye and the scroll lettering are fused appliqué, and the rays around eye are machine stitched. The sequin trim is attached with hot glue. I used an 80s jacket pattern with a shawl collar, and then made the necessary changes to shorten and shape the jacket bottom, as well as shorten and cuff the sleeves.

UPDATE: Photos of Emily in her costume are available in a later post.

Desperately-Seeking-Susan-Jacket-front

Desperately-Seeking-Susan-Jacket-back

 

Desperately Seeking Susan Madonna

22 thoughts on “Desperately Seeking Susan Jacket”

  1. Emily says:
    October 16, 2014 at 10:22 am

    Looks great!!! You are the best mom.

    Reply
  2. Lisa says:
    October 16, 2014 at 11:21 am

    It turned out great! Glad I’m not the only one who still makes her adult daughter’s Halloween costumes. My daughter and her friends are dressing as the “Clue” characters this year. I finished her Mrs. White outfit last week.

    Reply
  3. Little Penpen says:
    October 16, 2014 at 12:22 pm

    VERY cool! Your daughter is lucky to have you!

    Reply
  4. Jean in MN says:
    October 16, 2014 at 1:24 pm

    Looks great! Reminds me of the year I made four “Catch Me If You Can” stewardess uniforms for my daughter and her friends when they had a movie-theme band concert. I found just the right powder blue linen at the discount fabric store.

    Reply
  5. Chris says:
    October 16, 2014 at 2:34 pm

    Wow Martha. Great job!

    Reply
  6. Linda says:
    October 16, 2014 at 5:50 pm

    Wow, you did an amazing job!

    Reply
  7. Patty says:
    October 17, 2014 at 1:47 pm

    Emily is so right….you are the best mom!!

    Reply
  8. Patty says:
    October 17, 2014 at 1:47 pm

    wait……the jacket is way cool too!

    Reply
  9. Beth F says:
    October 17, 2014 at 3:22 pm

    That is a great jacket! However, I think you have missed the adrenaline rush of making Halloween costumes if you’re not hemming or doing some other finishing during dinner on Halloween night!
    Beth F

    Reply
  10. Sharrie says:
    October 17, 2014 at 3:31 pm

    Very awesome! It turned out lovely.

    Reply
  11. Jenny Warner says:
    October 19, 2014 at 2:40 am

    How amazine – what a talent you are and you have! Love that apron too
    Best wishes
    Jenny

    Reply
  12. Mickie says:
    October 19, 2014 at 4:40 am

    It’s fantastic! Well done Martha, I know your daughter is going to love wearing that! What a great project! 🙂
    Hugs,
    Mickie

    Reply
  13. Tina says:
    October 19, 2014 at 5:30 pm

    Wow! What a great job!! It is just perfect and could BE the actual jacket!!! You are so very talented!!!

    Reply
  14. Robin H says:
    October 23, 2014 at 7:12 am

    I just found your blog and have spent a fun couple of hours going through the archives. We love a lot of the same things, not the least of which is sewing Halloween costumes for our grown kids! You’ve already been added to my “check daily” blog list. Bye for now!

    Reply
  15. Sharon Tucker says:
    October 25, 2014 at 7:14 pm

    WOW, you nailed it on this one. What a lucky girl to have a mom so talented and generous! Hope she has fun and I can’t wait to see the whole outfit.

    Reply
  16. Carla says:
    October 30, 2014 at 3:38 am

    Wow, you are so talented! The jacket looks great and I love all the details you added to make it perfect!

    Reply
  17. Stacey says:
    September 3, 2015 at 10:49 am

    I am just starting to work on making this jacket for Halloween for my daughter who will just be turning one. Did you free hand the pyramid and scrollwork? I am neither an artist nor a seamstress so this should be fun! I am headed to the fabric store to see what matches I can scare up. Any pointers you can think of?

    Reply
  18. Christine Griffith says:
    March 8, 2016 at 1:28 am

    Hi there. I am going to see Madonna at the end of the month. I want to go as Susan. I have no sewing skills but would love to know how you made the back.
    Thank you

    Reply
  19. Deniz says:
    March 15, 2016 at 8:16 pm

    CAN you PLEASE make this for me? This is the best quality looking replica i have seen. How much would you charge?

    Reply
    1. Martha says:
      April 10, 2016 at 9:53 pm

      I’m sorry, Deniz, but I do not make custom items for sale.

      Reply
  20. Susan says:
    October 3, 2016 at 10:11 am

    Omg this is amazing! Do you do custom orders?! I would buy this!

    Reply
  21. Tasha says:
    October 26, 2016 at 10:54 am

    great job can you make me a size large ? how much do you charge ? Please let me know

    Reply

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