Watch the video here: Karen's Coat Transformation
Repurposing Karen’s mink coat was a delight. The coat was in great shape. We made a lovely 50 by 58 inch throw. There was enough fur left to create two pillows. The 16 inch pillow used one inch strips with alternating fur directions. The 18 inch pillow came from the sleeve.
Watch the video here: Lisa's Mink Coat Transformation
This mink coat was on the smaller size. The measurement from the shoulder to the hem was only 31. Final transformation measurement was 44 by 44 inches.
See the video here: Allyson's Mink
Allyson's wanted to transform her mother's coat into a throw. The fur was in wonderful condition. She used a beautiful black velvet backing with the wave quilting design as accent. The final measurements were: 50 by 60.
See video here: Mary's Mink Transformation
Mary's Mink coat was in wonderful condition. She used her own lining for the backing and preserved the monogram. Final Size: Approx. 54 by 58
See video here: Mike's Aunt's Mink Transformation
What a great project. Mike's coat belonged to his Aunt. He wanted a new lining, but we used the old lining on the pillows and used the monogram on the throw. The monogram was placed in the upper right corner of the backing. This coat's hood was so large I was able to make the throw 54 by 70 inches and even had enough to make two 18 inch pillows!
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 the video here: Beverley's Beautiful Mink Transformation
Beverly's Mink was made in the 1990's. It belonged to her mother. I love being able to take a loved one's beloved item and turn it into a family heirloom. The original lining was use, but the monogram was left out. A copper brown silk crepe was used on two of the outside panels on the lining. Final Measurements: Throw: 52 by 54 Pillow: 14 X 14 with pillow and zipper installed.
See the video here: Anne's Throw & Pillow
Beautiful Mink Coat transformed into a throw & pillow. Lovely embroidered coat lining used as the backing. Final Measurement 47 by 50 for the throw and 16 by 16 pillow. View Part II on tackling the intricate backing.
Full length Mink Coat transformed into a throw and pillow.
Focus of this video: Working around the arm holes.
Final measurement of throw: 48by50 Pillow size 16 by 16
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.
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: 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.
Watch the video here: Mink Jacket & Beaver Coat ~ Transformed to a Throw & Pillows
Fur: Mink, Beaver, Calf & Fox
The customer wanted to transform her Mink Jacket and her Beaver Coat into a throw and two pillows.
The Mink Jacket would make up the main throw, and the Beaver would be used as the border. The Mink Jacket was a short waisted jacket, so the amount of Mink that I had to work with was limited. The throw measures 47 by 48 inches.
The front of the two pillows were made from the Beaver Coat. They measure 16 by 16. I used the bottom Checkerboard Calf that was on the Beaver Coat as an accent to the zipper area of the pillows. The checkerboard Calf on the sleeves was too damaged to be used. The Fox was not used in the final product and was returned to the customer.
I was contacted by my client, who was looking to transform her Grandmother's Mink Fur into a Lap/Throw Blanket. The original lining was stunning and was incorporated into the project. I used both the lining and new black silk lining. Custom quilting was used to attach lining material and batting. Both fur layer and backing were then sandwiched together to complete the throw. Original tags and labels were sewn onto the backing. A lovely heirloom to give joy to the family for years to come.
