>Piecing A Fur Collar from a Vintage Fur Coat

> I finally started cutting out my coat from the Vintage Pattern Lending Library coat I posted about a while back.

This coat is too divine and I’ve been putting off starting as I find I really have to be in the  mood for a large project.  I was perfectly in the mood last week but then you can’t imagine my disappointment when the vintage fur coat I had been holding onto for use on another project ended up being moldy inside.  Gross! No moldy fur on my new coat! So the fur idea was scrapped.  I toyed with simply making it from the same wool but I really want this coat to be dramatic.  Then I thought about removable fur, but thought it would be too much work.  I even went and looked at faux fur at the local fabric store and decided it looked TOO faux.  So I settled down into putting the project off until I found a decent fur substitute.
After church this last sunday my husband and I went to a few thrift stores to have a poke around and see if there was any goodies worth bringing home.  I found a killer 1950s skirt at one (will post pictures later), and he found me a fur coat in a “Halloween costume” rack at another.  I would have passed it by- the fur was all shreaded at the shoulders which usually means it’s too dry and stiff… but the rest of the coat ended up being very soft and supple.  I think it was probably just torn from bad storage!  In any case- the coat probably is from the early 60s and deserved a second chance rather than being thrown in the rubbish bin, so I picked it up and that night my husband and I went about picking it all apart and laying it out to fit the pieces on.

**I personally don’t have anything against vintage fur, but I admit the task made even me a little grossed out.  So if you’re a bit on the squirmish side or anti fur you might want to just pass this post on by, but for those of you who are thinking of refashioning a vintage fur piece it might be useful.**

Keep in mind I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing… I could be doing this all wrong, and my fur could end up splitting when I wear it, but heck- was worth a try.
This coat was cut with two pockets, so the slits happened to go right across where the big collar pieces needed to go.  Since my fur was still soft and supple I put my machine on the widest zig zag I have and zig zagged the piece together.  The pelts looked pieced in this way so I gave it a try.  I didn’t have enough to cut a second collar piece, so I also needed to do this with larger left over pieces.  I tried to pay attention to the direction of the fur and I think it worked.  After zig zagging I went back in to the outside and using a pin I carefully pulled the hair from the seam.  It worked pretty well- you can barely tell the join.  In retrospect I think I should have used a stabilizer underneath to have something extra for the stitches to grab hold of.

The zig zagged pelt when opened flat.  I will probably trim some of the hair from the back.

  

 The big pieces all together.  I don’t know what kind of fur this is- does anyone know?