Sewing the Seventies: Make 1 – Faux Fur Jacket Part 2

February 25, 2019 by steelyseamstress 6 Comments

It’s taken me a long time to get to the point of writing this post. February was a busy month with limited sewing time and I’ve only just finished making my seventies faux fur coat.

McCalls 3016

I discovered that the yardage suggested gave me enough to make View B, the mid length coat, and to make the hood from View A. I was really pleased that this was the case, because hoods are useful and this one is detachable. And I still had more fabric left! So I opted to make a couple of inseam pockets, after all who has a coat without pockets? There’s still more fabric left, but I shall ponder what I’ll do with that once I’ve finished the coat.

Faux fur jacket worn without the hood

Since my last post I have sewn the lining and inserted it into the coat. I made a slight modification here. I decided that since I had made two darts at the neckline in the jacket, to add a pleat at the centre back. This actually means that, like most jackets the lining is slightly larger than the coat itself, which is just the way it should be.

Faux fur jacket worn without the hood

Next, I made my pockets. These were self-drafted to fit my hand and were cut from the faux fur and the lining fabric. The faux fur fabric is quite heavy and I had noticed someone wearing a dress recently where the inseam pockets had sagged under the weight of the fabric. I was determined to make sure this wouldn’t happen with my pockets, so I employed a technique using a binding to stiffen the pocket edges. I’ve decided to write an extra post on this to illustrate the method, which I’ll post soon.

Finally, (and this took ages) I sewed on all the snaps onto the hood and the coat and added the faux fur hook and eyes to the front edges of the jacket.

Faux fur jacket worn without the hood

Now this is where I hit a snag. I followed the instructions in the pattern and the hooks and eyes are sewn directly onto the lining inside the coat with the hook and eye lined up against the front edges of the jacket. When I did the jacket up I found that the fastenings just don’t hold the coat closed very well. If you move, or bend it gapes wildly at the front. I suppose the attachment points are quite a long way from the edge of the jacket and this is the reason the front opening gapes open. Plus, I don’t like the way the hooks and eyes are sewn directly onto the lining. Perhaps if I could have found some grey fabric-covered hooks and eyes it would have helped, but to me the inside of my jacket now just looks ugly.

Inside the Faux Fur Coat – the paisley lining is rather wish isn’t it?

I’m still not sure I’ve struggled over the finishing line with this coat yet. I’m really not happy with the front fastenings, but the question now is what do I do about this? Looking at some RTW coats, the hooks and eyes are sandwiched between the coat and a facing. This could mean that the fastenings are secured right at the front edge of the jacket which would improve the situation. Or, I could get some more snaps and overlap the edges to fasten them (just possible as there is enough ease in the jacket). Alternatively, I could insert a zip. This would probably be the warmest solution as there wouldn’t be any possible gaping at the centre front. I think the whole look of the inside would be improved with a facing. It seems like I’m overly bothered about the inside of the jacket, but when it’s worn undone at the front, the weight of the hood tends to throw the neckline open revealing the inside edges – I want this to look good too. What do you think would be the best solution?

The faux fur jacket done up

In summary, I loved sewing with the faux fur, it was actually quite an easy fabric, even if I created lots of fluff which I’m sure will still be filling up the vacuum cleaner for weeks to come. I’ve been admiring my reflection in shop windows today (do you do that?) and I love the sheen on the fur, and I can’t help reaching round the back of my chair today to give the coat an extra stroke!

Unfortunately, the pattern isn’t the best vintage faux fur jacket pattern out there. I would have been happier if the coat had included pattern pieces for a facing and of course some pockets. But, I think it is supposed to be more a “quick make” rather than an all-out coat pattern.

Faux fur jacket with hood attached