McCalls 6656 - the Fauxest of Furs for a Vegetarian
My fabric stash is full of gorgeous wools and faux furs...but Bay Area winters don't really call for the heavy coating, sadly. So I live out my winter coat fantasies by sewing for others, namely my family on the East Coast. Califabrics recently added some gorgeous faux furs to their shop, and I really loved this pink one, with different shades of black and gray and different pile lengths.
I'm not really a pink person myself, but I still thought this was so pretty and unique. So I decided to use it in a coat for my sister for her November birthday. She's a longtime vegetarian but signed off on the faux fur, and this is unabashedly faux - no pink rabbits were harmed!
The pattern I used was McCalls 6656. I made view A and a size S. This has a big red "EASY" on the front of the pattern, even though it looks like it would be complicated - it wasn't. It was super easy! It is unlined, uses button closures instead of a zipper, and the edges are unfinished. Deceptively simple.
The body of the jacket was a black wool coating from Mood fabrics that was kind of medium weight and almost felted in texture - perfect for a pattern with raw edges. I added 2.5" inches of length to the jacket body based on my sister's measurements. I've sewn faux fur before, and used my usual method of tracing the pattern pieces with a sharpie on the back of the fur and cutting with an X-acto knife to minimize the fur shedding.
The jacket sewed up very quickly and I thought the instructions were adequate. I ended up topstitching the front to help keep the fur facing in place and hand sewed the rest of it in place along the inner seam allowances. Following the advice of another patter reviewer, I did not use the original button placement markings - they seemed much too high. I just tried it on, made a note of how it draped and where it would be comfortable and marked it accordingly. I'd say my top button is at least 3" lower than the suggested placement. Other than that, it was a quick, fun sew - 4 hours start to finish including a bit of hand sewing!
I love this SO MUCH. I kind of want to keep it for myself, but I won't - partly because it is a tad snug across the shoulders for me. But I even love the pink more than I thought I would! (I still have about half a yard leftover...)
Topstitching and the button closures.
The fur is very soft when the jacket is closed and it's against the face - not at all scratchy or itchy, in my opinion.
There's not much else to say, other than I love this jacket and I love this fur and now I have to make one for myself! I think it's a really cool statement piece and it looks quite intimidating but is really straightforward in terms of construction. I'm going to go pack it in my suitcase to hand deliver it since I'm headed East soon - if I stare at it too long I might decide it's staying in California!
The pattern I used was McCalls 6656. I made view A and a size S. This has a big red "EASY" on the front of the pattern, even though it looks like it would be complicated - it wasn't. It was super easy! It is unlined, uses button closures instead of a zipper, and the edges are unfinished. Deceptively simple.
The body of the jacket was a black wool coating from Mood fabrics that was kind of medium weight and almost felted in texture - perfect for a pattern with raw edges. I added 2.5" inches of length to the jacket body based on my sister's measurements. I've sewn faux fur before, and used my usual method of tracing the pattern pieces with a sharpie on the back of the fur and cutting with an X-acto knife to minimize the fur shedding.
The jacket sewed up very quickly and I thought the instructions were adequate. I ended up topstitching the front to help keep the fur facing in place and hand sewed the rest of it in place along the inner seam allowances. Following the advice of another patter reviewer, I did not use the original button placement markings - they seemed much too high. I just tried it on, made a note of how it draped and where it would be comfortable and marked it accordingly. I'd say my top button is at least 3" lower than the suggested placement. Other than that, it was a quick, fun sew - 4 hours start to finish including a bit of hand sewing!
The fur is very soft when the jacket is closed and it's against the face - not at all scratchy or itchy, in my opinion.
