Me So Fancy – Faux Fur Coat

I was so excited to make this coat that I put it together in one day. I don’t know how I did it and if this phenomenon can ever be repeated again, but one thing is certain – it was a very, very long day. I stayed up late and drank too much wine, but I finished the coat. In hindsight, I don’t think drinking copious amounts of wine was beneficial for my sewing, although I’m thankful that the fur hides mistakes. The wine really helped me with seeing the project through to the end. See, when I first put the coat together, sleeves, collar and all, just enough to try it on for the first time, I didn’t know how to react. The statement fur I used coupled together with my quite haggard appearance at that time of the night made for a very interesting look. My first reaction was “OMG. I made a pimp coat”, to which Shaun promptly replied “Well, looking like you do right now, you come across more as someone working for a pimp…” Needless to say, I threw the leftover fur, fuzz and all, in his direction. 

All jokes aside, I did feel a little out of place with the coat at first. There was some truth to Shaun’s statement, the coat had a very unique look and I worried I wouldn’t be able to pull it off. That is probably why I had to finish it right away. I was sure that if I hesitate for even an hour the coat will end up in a UFO pile and I will not finish it. So this is where wine helped. I took a deep breath, a sip of wine and soldiered through the rest of the night finishing the coat. In hindsight, I am so happy I did finish it! I am loving the coat, it is super warm and it elevates every outfit. And I am slowly getting used to the coat screaming for attention every time I wear it.

It may all be in my head, but I feel like the coat does attract a lot of attention. As soon as I put it on I instantly have an urge to do the coat justice and carry it nobly and proudly. So when I am wearing the coat I stand taller, I am not slouching and I tend to carry myself with what I can only imagine “class” looks like. I have no idea what exactly “class” looks like, so my interpretation of it may really be off and quite laughable. And if not noble and classy, I feel should then be all snobby and rich. I am definitely not rich, but I am sure I can come across as snobby at times even if I don’t intend to… Truly it’s almost like the coat has its own presence and personality and I find that I tend to adjust my goofy self slightly to do the coat justice.

I got the faux fur for the coat on a whim. Emma One Sock was having a Cyber Monday sale, I had a couple glasses of wine and I decided that a faux fur coat was exactly what I was missing in my life. Wine really seems to be “flowing” through this post, eh?… Anyways, I went ahead and placed an order and some time later my fur arrived. I didn’t get around to making the coat until Christmas break. The weather was incredibly cold with an immense amount of snow at that time, so it is quite possible that by the time Christmas rolled around I indeed needed a fur coat in my life. But then, it is almost certain I was drinking even more wine at Christmas…

For my pattern I chose a rather simple jacket from February 2015 issue of Burda Style. I really wanted a fur coat with wide lapels and a notched collar. I don’t know why, but I was dead set on it. In hindsight this is exactly what gives my fur coat a bit of a pimp-ish vibe… but I still love my wide lapels and big collar! Nothing like burying my face into luxurious fur!

Speaking of the collar. Boy, sewing standing collar out of fur was a bad idea and it pushed all my sewing and swearing limits. All of them. You can’t press fur, the collar pattern piece all of the sudden seems small when cut out of fur, every collar seam is minuscule and gets lost in the fur, and collar stand… Why? Why did I think it was a good idea?… It was a pain. By this time my wine glass also had extra fur floating in it… Nonetheless, I took a sip, fur and everything, and went through with it. Despite all the mess and difficulty of sewing with fur, there is one positive. All that fur that you hate while sewing, hides the imperfections really well. By the time my collar was finished, although quite botched, it looked perfectly good.

I forgot to mention that the pattern I chose is actually a cropped jacket. I just really liked the lines of it. It is very simple and roomy. So I lengthened the body and the sleeves to make it into a coat. I also ignored the back pleat and added inseam pockets to the side seams. These modifications made for a very easy coat to make, was it not made out of fur that is.

I also added lining to my coat. The pattern doesn’t have lining, but drafting a lining is pretty easy and very straightforward. I used flannel backed kasha lining. Because of flannel on the wrong side, it is warmer than bemberg lining I usually use. It is also a lot easier to sew with since it is heavier, not super slippery and it doesn’t slide all over the place. The only thing is that it’s right side is quite shiny, which really adds that 70s vibe to my coat, but I don’t mind it at all.

For closures on the coat I was considering sew-on snaps which I had in my stash. I even sewed them on, but they didn’t look good at all and really clashed with the fur. Snaps really made this coat turn from classy to trashy. So instead I ordered these fur hooks from Wawak Sewing Supplies and they worked really well. They are practically invisible when sewn on. Speaking of it, my experience with Wawak has been amazing. They are a US company and they provide a number of sewing supplies at great prices. The best part is that shipping to Canada is very reasonable and extremely fast. I also have never had to pay duties. Incredible.

I am very happy with the coat. I wear it a lot more than I imagined I would and it is so warm! I think this coat will last me for years and will definitely be my go-to coat for all my fancy outings. Which reminds me I really need to organize some fancy outings now. Costco trips have been considered to be a really fancy outing around here and I just don’t think they will cut it anymore.

 

Anya

 

Posted By: Anya · In: Blog