We Sew Retro

Wednesday 4 January 2012

Step 6: Fur, fur, everywhere...

Fur is great isn't it? So soft, and warm and luxurious. It's good that I think that, considering it now covers most of my flat.
So...after drafting my collar/trim, it was time for the real shabang.


1. I didn't think I'd get the right colour of fur, but luckily the shop lighting was wrong, not the colour, so I opted for this long-haired, dark grey & cream, minky faux fur from Abhakans in Manchester. Becuase I had to pay by the kilo and use a nap layout I did have to buy rather a lot, but I have plans for a faux fur pill-box hat and maybe some wrist warmers?

2. I put a single notch at the top/neck side of the pattern, and double notches at the bottom just so I wouldn't get myself confused. I really took my time cutting out the pattern keeping the blade of the scissors as close to the backing as possible so I didn't cut through the actual pile.

3. When pinning the seams together it is vital to put the pins in at 90 degrees to the edge and alternating directions. This avoids the fur moving and sliding around (the fur I was using is especially smooth and silky so this would have happened very easily had I not put the pins in properly).

4. I selected a straight stitch double the length I'd normally use, and really a walking foot would have helped, but I don't have one...yet.

5. After sewing all the seams I turned the fabric around so the right side was facing me, and then used a knitting needle to carefully pull the pile out of the seam. This allows for as smooth a finish as possible.

6. Although it took me a long time, I pulled out all the pile as close to the stitching as possible so as to hide the seams.

7. I then turned the fabric so the wrong side was facing me, and I could clearly see the long pile left in the sewn seam. This needs to be trimmed so the seam lies flat.

8. This picture shows a seam on the wrong side of the fabric, with half of the seam trimmed as close to the backing as possible. Again this is a time-consuming job, but is worth it, as you could cut the stitching or backing if not careful.

Next time...Will Sancho propose, or run away?.....

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