Making My Taylor Swift Eras Tour Jacket

It’s hard to believe that a week ago, I was flying to LA so that I could go see Taylor Swift in concert for the Eras Tour! I was able to go to night 1 at SoFi Stadium, and to say it blew my mind would be an understatement!

If you’ve seen my post about eras tour outfit ideas, you’ll know it took me a while to decide what exactly I was going to wear to see Taylor Swift. Ultimately, I decided to make the cornerstone of my outfit this custom DIY tasseled jean jacket that I added hand beaded strands too with all of the colors that represent the different T. Swift eras!

Brainstorming

I got inspired to make this jacket while I was browsing Poshmark and came across this jacket by Farm Rio. I couldn’t get the idea out of my head that I thought this jacket was so cool but that it would be so cool with the colors of the eras!

I was torn on a lot of things initially: do I layer all 10 colors on each strand like my inspiration jacket? Do I make columns of the colors? I ended up asking people on my TikTok who voted for columns of colors. I also ended up getting a number of comments of people saying I should do an ombré between the colors. I wasn’t as convinced about this idea, but I ended up polling people on my Instagram and the majority insisted that I do an ombré effect between the colors– so that’s exactly what I did!

Beads

I used glass seed beads from Hobby Lobby from the brand Bead Treasures in the size 6/0. The pros to using this brand was that they were easy to find– generally always in stock, had a wide selection of colors to choose from, and lastly (the biggest reason for me) beads are almost always 50% off at Hobby Lobby so you’re often only paying $1.99 for an 85g tube of beads.

Despite the inexpensive cost (compared to other seed beads), if I could go back in time, I likely would have picked a different brand of beads for a couple of reasons:

1. The beads from Hobby Lobby were often very uneven in shape– making it difficult to get consistent strands.

2. 15% of the time, there would be NO hole to even thread something through.

3. Since using my leftovers for friendship bracelets, I’ve learned that the color on the coated beads comes off after a few wears.

For the purposes of the jacket, the color leaving is not a huge deal (because it’s not rubbing against my skin or potentially being washed like a bracelet would) but the irregular shape and consistency was SUPER annoying when creating this jacket.

Beads Used and Alternatives that I Should Have Used Instead

If you’re trying to make a jacket like this, but are not doing an ombré or do not have an ultra specific bead color you want to use, I would really recommend using some bead fringe trim like this to save yourself a LOT of time!

I have linked each color that I used, and also added in which beads I would use instead just in case you are trying to recreate something similar.

Debut: Bead Treasures; other recommended brand in either green or light clear green

Fearless: Bead Treasures; Other recommended brand in crystal gold lined

Speak Now: Bead Treasures; different recommended brand in light purple

Red: Bead Treasures; different recommended brand in red

1989: Bead Treasures; different recommended brand in light blue

Reputation: Bead Treasures; different recommended brand in black

Lover: Bead Treasures; alternative recommendation in light pink

Folklore: Bead Treasures; alternative recommendation

Evermore: Bead Treasures; alternative recommendation 1 and alternative 2

Midnights: Bead Treasures; alternative in either blue or Black Aurora Borealis (the latter one would be SO cool)

Other Supplies Used

I used regular sewing thread that I already had. If I could go back in time, I would instead use some thicker thread meant for denim, like this:

I used E6000 glue and feel very confident that it is the best heavy duty glue to use for this job! I got it at Hobby Lobby for like $3. Just make sure that you use it outside or in a well-ventilated area!

Lastly, the actual jacket I used was a denim jacket that I thrifted from Goodwill for $7. It was a size XL which was perfect because I really wanted an oversized look.

Process

So here is the part that gets a little bit harder to explain and is ultimately going to be determined by your actual jacket that you are working with and the size. For me, I found it easiest to draw out my measurements and idea on my iPad to kind of make sense of the whole project.

I installed all of my bead strands along the seam that ran from the arm, over the back and to the next arm. So I measured out how long that was which was 53 inches of space I would need to fill with beads.

From there I kind of worked backwards. The ombré definitely complicated this process, but I made a bunch of strands of how I wanted the ombré to look so I could see how many strands I would need to create that ombré/transition section. Once I made that, I measured how much width the ombré strands would take up which got me 1.75 inches. I determined from my drawing that I would have 9 ombré/transition sections so I did:

53 in – (1.75 in x 9 sections) = 37.25 inches remaining for solid color sections

37.25 in / 10 sections = 3.725 inches wide for each solid color section

This provided me with a rough guide of how wide to make each section so that I was able to mark out on the jacket where each section would start and begin, so that all I had to do was fill it in with beaded strands!

Also just a side note/tip: I say this in the YouTube video of the process, but having some kind of tray probably would have saved me about hours of time at the end of the day lol

Creating the Strands

I explain this process in the video I made, so you may find that explanation easier; however, here is my attempt at explaining with lots of pictures. Also, I’m certain there is probably a better way for me to have done this– this is just how I did it! I explain the process of creating the strands and attaching them to the jacket starting at the time-point 5:40.

Step 1

Cut yourself a piece of string. I normally cut off a piece of string about 20 inches long.

Step 2

Take one bead and string it through. This will act as your stopper bead

Step 3

String the 2 ends through a needle

Step 4

Step 5

OK here’s where you’ll have to bear with my poor diagram drawing because getting a picture of this wasn’t working!

Keep adding beads until you get your desired length (the beaded part of my strands were 5.125 inches long along the arm seam and 6.375 inches long along the back seam [The reasoning for this is more evident in the video). Once that length has been achieved, I used the needle to thread the two ends through the outside of my jacket so that I had two ends coming out of the INSIDE of my jacket.

Step 6

I then took the two loose ends of the string and used them to tie a basic overhand knot several times.

Step 7

Once all of my strands were installed in the jacket, I took one of the string ends from one strand (circled end from strand A), and one of the string ends from the strand directly next to it (circled end from strand B), and used those to tie another basic overhand knot several times. Repeat with all strands and on either side of each strand.

Step 8

Now all of your strands should be knotted in and knotted together. I then went in with E6000 glue to really make sure the beaded strands weren’t going anywhere! Make sure you do this outside or in a well-ventilated area, the vapors are toxic! I just dabbed the glue along the knots along the inside of the jacket. I let it sit to cure for about 24 hours before I messed with it.

Step 9

Trim up the excess string ends on the inside of the jacket. I also did one more touch up of glue just to make sure it was secure!

I’m really so happy with how my jacket turned out! I got so many compliments on it and it was cool knowing that I had a jacket that absolutely NO ONE else had!

The rest of my outfit for the Eras Tour was this top from Lulus and this faux leather skirt from Amazon. I loved both!

Now I basically need to find a way to the Eras Tour AGAIN! 🙂

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