Let me just start off by saying I love this coat. I would jump up and down on Oprah’s couch like a crazy woman for this coat. It makes me happy just to look at it, and to touch it makes my day. I love it so much that I actually feel paranoid wearing it out for fear that some Peta idiot is going to pour paint on me because it looks and feels absolutely like real fur. But wear it out I do, because I love this coat!
I mean, seriously, look at this faux fur, is it not fabric porn?
To refresh your memory, I made BWOF 10/08 #102 in faux chinchilla fur from fabric.com (at $21.98/yard, it was worth every last penny in shipping and customs charges!).
And the end result is just love at first sight!
I lined this with green cupro from my stash, and since outer pockets were both impractical and not included in the pattern (the similar longer view’s pockets descended past the hemline on this), I added two zippered pockets to the lining of this. I could’ve bought matching zippers but I was just so deliriously happy with the coat at this point that I wanted a bit of bright, cheery colour to mimic this and so I chose the brightest zippers in my stash!
Burda suggest giant snaps for the closure on this, but I preferred the classic look of fur hooks, so I attached these by hand:
After looking at the above photos, though, I noticed that the disturbed fur on the front where my hook stitching came through was much more noticeable than I thought! So whilst at our moorings crafty night last night, I took the time to unpick a lot more fur from those handstitches so it’s a lot less noticeable now!
(My hair stylist neighbour was prompting me with sex kitten poses while James was taking these, hence the last shot!)
A lot of people must’ve had bad experiences with fur because I kept being told that I’d never sew fur again, or that I’d be finding it for weeks, or that I’d need to sew with a stiff drink in my hand, but really, things couldn’t have gone smoother, and I’d definitely sew with faux fur again! If you missed it earlier and you’re interested in taking the furry plunge, then you should have a look at my tips for sewing with faux fur before you begin!
Oh, and for anyone who was not involved with the Great Coat Sew Along but would like to read the expert advice over there, the site has just been opened to the public so anyone can view it now!