Hi readers!

So I had about a yard and a quarter left over from the shearling coat I made my stepdaughter for Christmas and my little girl asked me to make her a coat, too. She loved the feel of  this faux shearling from Joann. I had just enough to eek, er…. eke, out her little coat!It’s the first time she’s asked me to sew her something specific. I showed her this Burdastyle pattern and it met with her approval. From the photo above, I decided it was a bit plain looking. I needed to jazz it up a little! I added 1 inch seam allowances to the center fronts, hood edge, pocket tops and hem. I folded them over to the right side and stitched them down to give more dimension to the coat. I devised a method to sew the shearling seams. It’s a kind of lapped seam. I’m going to post a tutorial for it next week. It’s a nice seam for faux shearling and shows off the fuzzy inside parts. I love the detail of the seam on the hood.I also made some toggle closures with plastic horn buttons with some leather scraps . I cut 1/2 inch strips of leather and folded them in half and stitched them to make the loops.  I cut 1 inch squares to cover the edges of the loops. The buttons I bought at the fabric store for a few bucks each. I considered finding a toggle closure sweater from the thrift shop to recycle, but I could only find a jacket with black closures and didn’t want to unpick all the toggle things, so I decided to make my own instead.I know I ‘ve complained about PDF patterns but printing out kids’ ones isn’t so bad. This pattern took about 20 pages. I added 1/2 inch seam allowances to the pattern and the one inch allowances to the hem and center fronts. The cuffs are 2.5 inches. In this case, the fact that  burdastyle doesn’t include seam allowances was convenient,since I had my own plans for them.

Shearling is fun to sew with. It sews up so quickly. It’s the perfect project after my husband’s shirt which was a disappointment. I loved how it turned out and I worked so hard on it. But the pattern just wasn’t comfortable for Richard in the armholes. They were too tight. How I wish I had made a muslin!

I’d forgotten how simple kids sewing is compared to my own sewing. No fitting issues in general, no FBA’s , simple designs…. I might need to get back into it. Everything just looks so darned cute, too. Even when it’s not sewn perfectly.

Our neighbors behind us have two sweet horses. We love to go and say hi to them!Happy sewing!A gorgeous California winter day. Too bad our neighbor’s avocado trees died. They couldn’t survive the frost from last winter.

Related posts:

Faux Shearling Coat New Look 6416 pattern hack Sewing shearling. Exposed lap seam tutorial Chunky grey wool knit hooded sweater coat Spring Tops # 2, Granny Chic Blouse : From The Burdastyle Handbook