Happy March 1st, everyone!  It’s bright and cold in TO!  Winter is not gone yet.  Actually, it never is in this part of the world, until the beginning of May.  There’s always the last dump of snow in April sometime that leaves you scrambling for the snow protection gear after putting it all away because it’s making such a darned mess in the entry way!

I heard that Environment Canada is predicting a cold spring – right through until May!  So it’s not too late to put this coat together, ‘cuz I’m sure I’m going to get some wear out of it before summer arrives!

And since Cinderella is away for a while, I thought I’d keep busy by cutting it out.  I’ve decided to use S3562.  I made this up a couple of years ago, and it’s probably the only “wearable muslin” in my collection.  It’s made of a Harris Tweed wannabe fabric that I got from eBay, and I must confess that I’ve worn this “muslin” a lot.

I plan to lengthen it by about 6 or 8 inches, lengthen and narrow the sleeves to accommodate the fur cuffs, leave off the pocket flaps and re-draft the collar to make the best use of the fur.

The upholstery fabric that I chose to make my coat does not have a pattern that is a true brocade pattern.  In other words, there’s no mirror image to be had or created with the design.  So I decided I’d just keep it simple and match the centre back and centre front seams and not drive myself crazy trying to make something spectacular.  I also decided to use the wrong (rusty) side of the fabric as my fashion fabric because it just makes the spots on the fur “pop”, and that’s what I really want people to notice:  the spotted fur.

What do you think?  I’ve not started sewing it up yet, so I’d really value your opinion on the wrong or right side!

 

Now that I see both in the smaller pictures, I’m undecided again.  Any opinions?