Faux fur leopard print jacket, Burda 09-2009-127

Getting back to my sewing plan, I've just finished the leopard print jacket.  The photos don't show the furriness very well.  It's a short nap fur called "minky."  Not sure what "minky" means, but it's easy to sew with, presses well and doesn't shed.  The fabric has been in my stash for about 2 years, I bought it for a different jacket but figured it would be a great fit for this one.  Another note about this fabric: I noticed in my stats that several people have made their way to my blog with the search terms "make buttonholes in faux fur."  So here is some advice to people who are looking to make buttonholes in faux fur.  Because the nap was so short, I didn't have to do anything special to make buttonholes.   I have made buttonholes in fur with longer nap, and as I'm sure you've noticed if you've tried to do this -- the hair gets in the way.  What you need to do is separate and lay the hair away from the area where you are going to put the buttonhole, so that you're stitching on fabric rather than on the fur.  Hols the fur away from the stitching area with your fingers as you're stitching the buttonholes.  Depending on how long the nap is, you might want to trim around the buttonhole, but I've never found this necessary.

The jacket is unstructured and fits a lot like a sweater  It's double breasted with cropped sleeves and very mod.  I lined it almost to the edges, which makes it feel very sweatery to me. I am not sure about the fit.  It's princess seamed but the princess curve falls above my bust line so that there are wrinkles in the upper chest and a rather boxy fit through the rest of the torso.  I suppose that this is what I get for not having fit a muslin first.

Here's a picture of it in the magazine. They used a wool, which lends their version a lot more structure.  The collar in this photo falls better than mine (I have to adjust it when I put the jacket on) and I wonder if my collar would behave better if I pressed it more.  As it is, I've left it kind of shawl-like.

 

I was a bit torn about what to do for buttons.  I didn't have 8 large buttons in my stash so took the jacket to Windsor Button in Downtown Crossing to figure out a good fit -- in my mind, 8 bright white buttons would fit with the mod look I was going for.  But when I laid 8 white buttons on the jacket they were way too bright.  The clerk and I had some fun matching buttons to the jacket and I ended up with 8 shell buttons, which are the most expensive part of this jacket... I think that the fabric was less than $10 when I bought it years ago! 

In all, I think the result is very cute.  I don't know how much I will wear it, though.  Do you wear animal prints?  I had all kinds of ideas for outfits that this would complement but now that it's done, it just seems too loud for my lifestyle.  Maybe I could have worn this regularly when I was in my late teens and regularly wore fishnets, mini-skirts and baby tees.  Is there a way for grownups to wear faux fur?