Cheryl had a short waisted coat that she wanted to repurpose into a throw. The throw's final measurement was 35 by 48. Much bigger than I thought it would be. Cheryl used her own lining. What a lovely fur to work on. Come visit us at: www.dinahsquilts.com
Watch the video here: Eric's Checkerboard Throw
Eric generously sent me three beautiful furs to work with. The collection included one elegantly soft white rabbit coat, one luxurious gray full-length mink coat, and one exquisite brown mink shawl. He expressed a desire for a large throw to enhance his living space. After some consideration, we decided on a classic checkerboard pattern, incorporating the rich brown mink as a stunning border. The hood of the gray mink was quite substantial, allowing us to utilize the leftover fur to create two matching pillows, each measuring 18 by 18 inches. The final measurements of the throw came to 54 by 65 inches, making it a perfect statement piece.
Watch the Video here: Cindy's Mink Stole Transformation
Cindy's Mink was repurposed into a Jointed Teddy Bear. The bear measure 14 inches high. Lining was used to make the collar, foot pads, paw pads and inner ears. There wasn't enough fur left over to make any additional items, but I did make a mini heart!!
Bear Pattern: Sebastian
See the video here: Beaver Coat Transformation
The colors of the throw are so beautiful! Original lining was used for the backing.
Final dimensions were: 53 by 53 inches.
See Video here: Ellyne's 4 Beautiful Furs Transformed
The customer sent in five fur coats to be transformed into throws and possible pillows. Before I started the project, I contacted the customer and described what we could do with each and every one of the furs. While reviewing the furs the customer decided that she wanted to hold on to her Silver short waisted mink coat. It was absolutely stunning!!! So, it does not appear in the video. The first throw that I worked on was the full-length Beaver coat. From this coat, I was able to make a throw as well as an 18 by 18-inch pillow. The next fur that I worked on was the full-length fox. It was a light-colored fox. I have a love hate relationship with fox. The fur is soft and luxurious to touch, but the fur flies everywhere! The next project that I worked on was a combination of two short waisted coats. One of those coats was a darker fox as well as a white mink coat. I offered the customer several design variations. The customer chose to have the white mink in the center portion of the throw and the darker fox around the outside border of the fur throw. I had enough smaller pieces to make a 16 by 16-inch pillow. The inside portion of the pillow was a combination of the darker brown fox as well as the light-colored fox from project #2. On the outside of this pillow, I used the white mink trim that went all the way around the collar area. Unfortunately, the leather portion of the white mink trim was slightly damaged and dried. I used a specialized oil to help soften the leather. And for the majority of the fur, it worked, but there were portions that had to be taken out because the leather was just too dry and brittle. I used an additional leather stripping on top of the old leather stripping. And on that pillow, I also added an additional leather stripping all the way around the border of the pillow. And then I hand sewed the white mink trim onto the additional leather stripping. Here are the following sizes of the projects mentioned above:
Beaver throw: 51 by 55
Full Length Fox throw: 52 by 55
Short Waisted Fox and Mink Combination: 51 by 53
Beaver pillow: 18 by 18
Fox / Mink Trim Pillow: 16 by 16
Watch MJ’s Mink Transformation here: MJ's Video
The customer wanted to make a throw and a teddy bear from her mink coat. The coat had both sheared and unsheared fur. The unsheared fur was used in both the bear and the throw's border. The total measurement for this throw was 43 by 47 and the bear is 12 inches tall. Bear Pattern used: Funky Friends Factory ~ Melody Memory Bear Lots of cute animal patterns there. Go check them out! https://www.funkyfriendsfactory.com
Watch the video here: Michele's full length tanuki coat transformation
This project consisted of a full length tanuki coat To be transformed into a throw and a pillow. The fur was in excellent condition. The fur was very thick and must have been super warm in its heyday. It also accompanied a headband, as told by the customer that she used to wear it mainly in the 80s.
The final measurement of the coat was 56 by 58. The pillow measured 16 by 16. The customer chose to use her lining for the back of the pillow as well as maintaining her monogram. She used a pre quilted backing for the throw.
Watch the video here: Marsha's Beaver Coat Transformation
Beaver Coat Transformed into a Throw (48 by 53) a & Pillow (18 by 18). Coat was in excellent condition. 3 inch border using graduated light to dark tones. Customer's lining was used as a backing for the pillow. Original monogram was cut out and saved for the customer, as directed.
You can watch the video here: Fur Teddy Bear and Bunny
I was contacted by a customer who wanted to turn their deceased wife's mink coats into teddy bears for his grandchildren. He had a particular style of bear in mind, but he wanted them all to look a bit different. The pattern that was used was the same for each of the bears, but their look is completely different. The pattern that I used was named Sebastian, and will make a 15 inches fully jointed traditional teddy bear. They even have a small pattern for a shirt collar. Although the pattern is designed for mohair I was able to use it for real fur. My final project measured approximately 14 inches due to the bulk of the real fur seams. You can purchase this pattern here: https://www.etsy.com/se-en/listing/164872932/pdf-teddy-bear-pattern-sebastian-15
The fox trim was used in the belly area as well as the shaved down brown parts of the face and ears.
The Bunny pattern is quite cute. It is a traditional plush animal with non movable joints. Measures about 9 nines high.. The pattern can be purchased here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1384893435/adorable-bunny-rabbit-plush-diy-pattern?ref=yr_purchases.
View the video here: Karen's Mink Coat Transformation
It was such an honor to make this beautiful Mink Throw & Cowl!! This coat belonged to the customer’s mother. We were hoping that the project could have been completed before her mom passed, but unfortunately that didn't happen. I did my absolute best to honor Karen’s mother's memory. The completed throw measures 45 inches wide by 52 inches long. The throw is lined with wool batting. The customer chose to keep her mother's lining, as well as her monogram. With the remaining mink scraps Karen opted to make a Cowl to keep her nice and warm in the winter. We were able to line both sides with fur, which I was kind of doubtful in the beginning. I can’t believe that we had enough. The Cowell measures 36 inches long and has a keyhole opening so the one end of the scarf can be tucked into the center of scarf.
Watch the video here: Beautiful Beaver Coat Transformed into a Throw
Beaver Coat transformed into a throw. The fur was in amazing condition! So nice to work with. I loved the lining in this fur. The color variation was very unique.
Final measurements: 42 by 57
See the video here: Carol's 20 by 60 Bolster and Pompoms
This beautiful brown mink jacket was transformed into a 20 by 60 bolster. It is absolutely stunning! It will be used on her bed. The customer chose to use the lining of her coat as the backing of her bolster. The embroidery on the lining is so lovely and soft looking. It turned out beautiful! She also asked if I could make her six pom poms. The customer is a knitter. She's going to use those pom poms on the tops of the hats that she creates!! An amazing way to repurpose a fur.
See video here: Virginia's Mink & Seal Throws
The customer sent in two beautiful fur coats. She wanted to make a two throws.
The Brown Mink was in rough shape and needed a support material on the side of the throw. It was torn, was repaired multiple times prior. The original lining from the brown mink and monogram was used.
The Black Seal was in great condition and was so soft to the touch.
Final throw measurements:
Black Seal Throw- 44 by 50
Brown Mink Throw - 46 by 57
18 by 18 Pillows made from the leftover fur from both projects.
See Video Here: Denise's Fur Transformation
Denise sent in a beautiful black mink coat. The coat was well made and was in excellent condition. She wanted to make a throw as well as two bolster pillows. The bolster pillows were made from the sleeves. The original lining and monogram was used for the backing.
Final throw measurement: 44 by 52.
Final measurement for Bolster pillows: 6 inches in diameter and 18 inches in length.
Watch the video here: Pam's Mink Coat Transformation
Pam’s fur coat was wonderful to work with! Well maintained and so soft too. She wanted to use her own lining from her fur coat. Watch how I make the lining here: How I Make My Custom Linings
This project consisted of a light tan mink coat, a dark brown knee length mink jacket, a striped tan mink vest with a leather backing, and one white mink sweater. The customer originally wanted two throws exactly the same. The throws would be given to family members. We tried a variation with all the furs together, and we opted to keep the dark brown mink with the light striped mink Together and the tan/light brown mink with the white mink border. There was enough leftover fur that we were able to make one 16 by 16 pillow and one14 by 14 pillow. I was able to use the leather from the striped mink vest to form the back of the larger pillow. I was also able to use the lining to form the back of the smaller pillow. Each pillow incorporated a monogram from the original jackets. The white mink was very delicate. It was obvious from when I removed the lining, it was repaired before. There were quite a number of patch work areas on the inside of the sweater. I used cold cloth to help support the white mink.
See the video here: Mary's Mink Transformation
Mary's Knee length mink coat was just simply lovely. Mary wanted her mink coat to be transformed into a throw. The coat itself was in wonderful condition and the construction of the coat was stellar. The final size of the throw was 45.5 by 49 inches.
See the video here: Beaver Coat to a Beaver Throw
The customer wanted her Beaver coat transformed into a throw. The fur was in wonderful condition. It had a lovely fox collar, but the collar was very small and short. It would have been very difficult to incorporate it in the border of the throw, so we opted not to use it. It measures 45 by 55.
See the video here: Mink Coat Transformed Into A Throw With A Lovely Chevron Pattern.
This mink coat was unique, due to the Chevron pattern on the bottom of coat. The customer was given two choices on how the chevrons could be placed in her throw. She chose the triangular pieces to go in the corners of the throw. Her coat was in excellent shape and the mink was just lovely to work with. Overall size was 42 by 54.
See the video here: Making a Queen/ King Fur Blanket
This had to be the most challenging fur project that I have done so far. It consisted of:
· 2 Full Length Fox Coats
· 1 Full Length White Mink Coat
· 3 Mink Shawls ~ 2 Tan Mink and 1 Silver Mink
· 1 Patchwork Fox Short Waisted Jacket
I gave the customer a few different types of patterns to choose from. The first one was a patchwork blanket made of 12. 5 inch squares. The squares we're mixed in random order. The second blanket was also a patchwork blanket, but instead of random squares they were placed in a repeating order. The next pattern was a pattern made of 7 vertical strips with a patchwork like border. The strips were 84 inches long. Ultimately this was the pattern that the customer chose.
The repeat pattern is Brown Fox-White Mink- Silver Fox-Silver Mink- Silver Fox – White Mink – Brown Fox. All Strips were 12.5 by 84, except for the center panel, which was 8.5 by 84. Just not enough Silver Mink to make the 12.5 strip.
The side borders were 3 inches each side. The sides had to be narrower because there wasn't enough leftover fur to have a wider side border. The top and bottom border were 5.5 inches wide. One of the mink shawls was a little damaged and dried out. It wouldn't be able to hold the stitches very well. The patchwork fox jacket also had some damage to it. One particular fur that was in that coat was dried out. So, I had to work around those sections. The blanket would measure 90 by 95. Just a little shy of a king size blanket that the customer wanted. It is very heavy and will be extremely warm!
