The Coat Project: friend or faux?

The latest on the Seventies coat saga:  After digging around in the Garment District yesterday, I have decided to go ahead and make my coat, and -- tentatively -- to make it in faux fur.

There is so much faux fur to be had, readers, but I found the widest selection on 39th Street at what used to be H&M and is now called It's a Material World (!).  Parenthetically, they say they're under new management but it sure looks like the same old lousy management to me, as well as same staff, same stock, etc.  This is one of those stores that's always a mess and stinks of cheap incense.  I counted more than a dozen sticks burning there yesterday and I could hardly breathe.  The fur is upstairs (it's a two-level storefront space) and the incense smells even stronger there.  That said, they have dozens of bolts of faux fur, some of it absolutely wild and wacky and totally fun.

What I hate about this place is that the prices seem random.  Is the faux fur really $20 a yard, or might it be $15 if I made a fuss, or spoke to a different salesperson, or had big breasts?  I don't like to bargain in fabric stores, do you? 

I also saw some faux fur at Chic Fabrics and a few other places on 39th St. (even Kashi at Metro sent me to 39th St. -- he hates stocking the stuff since it takes up so much space), but nothing can compare to the quantity at It's a Material Word, so I guess that's where I'll make my purchase.

If I do the whole coat in fur (and not just the front facings and collar), three yards should do it.  I have some fabulous instructions about working with faux fur from an online class at Pattern Review that Kenneth King led a few years ago.  I have all the recommended supplies, including cold tape (this was one of the mystery notions I quizzed you on last summer; nobody guessed it right), electric razor, wig brush, and afro pick.

King recommends using a pattern with a self facing in front, rather than a separate facing.  You want to eliminate as many seams as you can and keep it simple.  My coat pattern (I'm leaning toward the classic McCall's 2979 from 1971) has separate facings and a notched collar.  I spent some time yesterday looking at photos of faux fur coats for sale on Etsy.  Most have notched collars, the best looking ones anyway.  I think (hope) I can handle it.

I love this one with the pelts running horizontal beneath the waistline.  A faux fur Seventies coat can't be too busy and ideally mixes a few different furs and has a fake leather belt at the very least. 



Here are a few more gems in the tacky/fabulous category.   The faker, the better!









Other than these notched collar coats that look like something straight out of Superfly, the other popular style is similar to my Miss Vogue Pattern (8144).



OK, so this coat is listed as unisex and the guy is hot, but is this not a man in a woman's coat in your opinion?  (For sale on Etsy here.)



I also love this version -- I think it's by Jordache or Sassoon, or one of those classic Seventies/early Eighties brands one associates with what were originally called French (and later designer) jeans.







More Seventies-era faux fur coat pics here.

Now I just need to get my energy up.  Michael and I are actually invited to a Valentine's Day theater-related party next Tuesday, so if I could get this done by then, that would be great.  I'm a little nervous about this faux fur thing, I won't lie to you.  I've worked with thick polyfleece but this is a different ballgame.

Anybody worked in faux fur before?   Did you have to vacuum constantly?  Did you wear a disposable face mask?  What were the results like?  I'd love to know!

Have a great day, everybody!

PS -- Our cabaret show, Noah's Very Unusual Insight got reviewed!  (Read it here.)

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Random Thoughts about Seventies Coats

So here's the deal: Cathy will model the Seventies pantsuit, Simplicity 7295, but she isn't willing to freeze her a** off in the cold.

Which got me thinking...

Who doesn't love a Seventies coat?  I happen to have a few Seventies coat patterns in my stash (surprised?) -- one that's strictly for faux fur and another that could have faux fur trim.

I love Miss Vogue 8144, but I'm not sure I'm ready to tackle fur.  How do you think it would look with the pantsuit?  I would have to make the longer of the two versions to cover the jacket/top.  It may be too casual.



The other -- and perhaps better -- vintage pattern option is McCall's 2979, which dates from 1971 but I think it could pass for 1975 (the date of the pantsuit pattern), unless there was a style trend I missed.   I love the long purple version with the buckle, and I could make it even longer, or add fur cuffs or fur border at the hem.



Of course, the easiest option is two buy 2-3 yards of faux fur and turn it into something cape- or poncho-like, like Version B of this Very Easy Vogue 7641 from 2002.



WWLD?  (What would Liza do?)

To be honest, I'm not sure I'm up for making a coat, unless I find some really wild fabric -- paisley velveteen! -- at the right price (cheap).  I may go hunting later today, we'll see.

Of course, easiest of all would be to buy a vintage coat at a thrift store.  Tomorrow, Wednesday, is "Family Day" at my local Salvation Army, meaning most clothes are 50%.  I'm not sure how often these coats show up these days, though.  I also looked on eBay and found this in oh, so beige.

Yea or Nay?

This coat will take 10,000 years to decompose.

Given that MPB is a sewing blog, however, I feeling like I should make whatever I need with my own two mitts.  Shoes I can buy, outerwear I should make.

I was also thinking about maybe whipping up one of these stretch headbands, like the green one with the buckle on the lower left.



Friends, did you ever own a Seventies maxi coat?  Did it have faux fur trim?  Ultrasuede details?

I think it's time to channel my inner Mary and Rhoda.  (I'm gonna make it after all...  Is that my answer?)

Happy Tuesday, everybody!

PS - Kimberly sent me a photo of my her Pfaff 30 in its new home!  Doesn't it look happy?

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Glitzy Halston-inspired outfit UPDATE!

Friends, it takes a certain kind of man to pull off a 1975 sequined pantsuit.  Fortunately, I am precisely that kind of man.

I'm not quite done with Simplicity 7295, my matching top and bottom ensemble, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.  (Actually, it's a disco ball.)  I still need to add the sleeves, which is going to mean trimming the sleeve caps a bit and lowering the armhole.   I've been here before, fortunately.



Putting this baby together has been relatively straightforward but not without its challenges.  I think I mentioned that the "sequins" (they're really plastic stickies, like shiny Colorforms) don't lay flat folded on the diagonal and if you try pressing them they start to peel off at the corners.  There was a considerable curve in the back center seam (to create more fullness in the backside) which I had to remove so that the sequins along the seam would be vertical.



Then I created a lapped seam, which looks very clean though I may add another row of edgestitching. This way I knew that on this very visible seam none of the sequins would be folded in half.



The pants were easy.  The pattern calls for a back center zipper but there was no need for one; the fabric has sufficient stretch to just pull the pants on.  There's a simple casing with elastic inside, just like men's boxers.





I cut the jacket facings from my fashion fabric and serged them on, cutting off the 5/8" seam allowance in the process.  (As I mentioned yesterday, I couldn't fold the facing to the back because of those darn plastic sequins.)  I'll add polished cotton bias trim to the edge and cuffs, and most likely, the hem.





The two front darts on the jacket were a bit of challenge and required some experimentation.  I used a tiny stitch and trimmed the dart close to the stitching, otherwise I wouldn't be able to press it flat.  It's not perfect, but it's acceptable.





I think I'm pretty much done for today; I can only look at this fabric so long before my eyes start to ache.

Simplicity 7295 is a very fun pattern and could totally work today, imo.  It makes me think of Studio 54, Bianca Jagger, Donna Summer, and the Bee Gees.  And that woman who sings New York, New York -- what's her name again?

This stretch fabric has wonderful drape and really makes a statement -- hopefully a kind one.



Hope you're having a fun, whether you're sewing or not.

Have a great day, everybody!

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Puttin' on the Glitz!

Rhinestones.  Bugle beads.  Sequins.  Fringe.

These are the elements of glitzy dressing, our topic for today!

You can't really talk about glitz without mentioning Hollywood, where the glitziest fantasies were made reality, or rather unreality.







Garish and guilt-free, glitz has its critics.  My mother was/is the least glitzy person you can imagine.  She used to criticize her friends (to me, me) whom she thought dressed too flashily.   My next door neighbor, a boy named Maury, was also my best friend in elementary school, and his mother, Francine, a sexy divorcee, was the polar opposite of my mother.  Francine had a clothes closet worthy of Ann-Margret. 

 

I know this because after school, Maury and I used to go through it and try on anything trimmed with marabou or sequins, which was just about everything.  (The die was cast early, folks.)  She had enough costume jewelry to rival Jolie Gabor and I still remember her collection of chunky psychedelic Lucite rings that were so popular in the early Seventies.

Parenthetically, is anyone named Francine anymore?

Strange as it may seem, I am not a very glitzy person today and neither is my cousin Cathy, who's more Greer Garson than Mitzi Gaynor. 



No conversation about glitzy dressing (or Mitzi Gaynor) would be complete without mentioning designer Bob Mackie.  I've always loved Bob Mackie, who is probably best known for the wacky, flamboyant costumes he created for Carol Burnett and Cher on their respective television variety shows in the Seventies.



Mackie has continued to costume Cher, seen here on her way to the Piggly Wiggly.



I recently picked up a copy of Mackie's Dressing for Glamour on Amazon, signed by M. Mackie himself!







To be honest, this book doesn't quite live up to its title, being more of a What not to wear when you're short, fat, busty, or some combination thereof guide.  Lots of photos but very few color plates.  Mackie also talks about what it was like to work for various people in the business, but since this was at the height of his busy career, he's diplomatic to a fault, though he does get a dig in at perfectionist Barbra Streisand, who insisted on dyeing her own shoes when she appeared on The Judy Garland Show.  Perhaps she feared Judy might be dyeing them...



And speaking of Judy -- no shrinking violet in the rhinestone department herself -- one of our foremost glitz icons is Liza Minnelli,  most closely associated with the late designer Halston.





Was a Halston design the inspiration behind Simplicity 7295, a vintage pattern from 1975 I've just started making, and part of Simplicity's "Designer Fashion" line?
 

Patterns from this fabulous line can still be found cheap today and many look just like the more costly and collectible Vogue Paris Originals and other designer pattern lines of the period.  Perhaps it's inspired by Diane Von Furstenberg (?).  Anyway, I picked up this pattern recently for just a few dollars on Etsy, and I'm making it with the glitziest fabric in my stash.



I don't know how I ended up with this fabric, a sturdy knit (most likely Poly-Spandex) with little plastic "sequins" heat-transferred onto the surface.  This is both good and bad.  The sequins are strongly adhered to the fabric, but seams must be pressed with great care (not too hot an iron; a press cloth is a must), but they will not crease on the bias.

If you try to press a crease with an iron, you melt the glue and the sequins want to peel off.



What this means is that rather than attach a traditional facing to the front, I'm going to cut my facing (made of my fashion fabric for draping purposes) serge off the seam allowance while attaching both layers (right side of facing to wrong side of garment, with the facing under the garment), and then bind the seam edge with either bias strips of polished cotton (which I've tried) or some silk knit I have in my stash (which I haven't tried).

Either way, this will help to stabilize the edge and provide a smooth, professional look.  I'll likely do this on the cuffs and hems as well.  Again, the fabric won't crease sharply with those plastic do-dads attached.  Can you think of a better way to do this?

Here's a sample (done with white thread) of my binding.  I attach it, right sides together, fold it over the edge, and stitch in the ditch.  To avoid too much thickness, I probably won't fold the inside bias edge under, but either serge the edge before I attach the binding, or just leave as-is.  It won't fray.



Vertical seams are less of a problem, as you can see below.



And that's it.  I am happy to be sewing again after my month-long hiatus.  Despite the cold, the dogs are getting plenty of exercise on their treadmill.



In closing, friends, how do you feel about glitz and glitzy fashion?

I know some of you make costumes for figure skating, ballroom dance competitions, and theater, but outside of those venues, do you ever "glam it up" with sequins, Swarovski crystals, or bugle beads?

Any glitzy gown you remember from your youth, perhaps seen on TV, that made an indelible impression on you?

Who's ready to channel their inner Carol Channing?

Happy Friday, everybody!

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