After my disappointment about the tweed for DD3’s winter dress coat, I headed of to Fabricland to see if there was something that wouldn’t necessarily break the bank.  And they were having a BOGT sale, so I managed to find the fabric for this project at very little damage to the bank.

I raided my stash for the rayon faux Persian lamb.  This has shown up in many projects over the years.  I think I initially purchased it for the exact same coat pattern, but in purple melton, for DD1 back in 2002.  It was used for the same collar and  the beret. I thought I’d misplaced the beret, but found it rummaging through my queue of all the weird places.  I think it was in the line up because my SIL wanted one for herself once she saw the one I’d made for DD1.  Well, DD3 gets to wear it this winter (and hopefully next winter).

The lining is a silver kasha lining, as there wasn’t anything remotely close to the teal colour, and I know from past experience coat linings with dark or vivid colours like to rub off on whatever clothing is worn under the coat.

The fabric for this coat is a mystery fabric.  I have a very strong dislike of anything that reads “100% mixed fibres”.  What fibres, precisely?  But I bought it because the colour and the price were right.  The only downside was that it smelled old – y’know, a bit musty.  So I washed it.  I did ask the clerk what “100% mixed fibres” meant, and she said probably polyester, acrylic…. something along those lines as all “mixed fibre” fabric has some of both. She suggested cutting a 10cm square of fabric, washing in hot water and drying it to see what would happen.  Well, I thought I’d just wing it.  If she was right about the polyester and acrylic, it wouldn’t do a lot of damage to wash and dry it.  And it would definitely smell better!  So I did, and it turned out just fine.  It’s a weird fabric, though.  One side has a definite fleece look to it, and the other has a gabardine weave.  I chose the gabardine-like side as the right side of the fabric.