Recent Projects

Posts in Fur
Michele's Beautiful Tanuki Coat Transformation

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.

Maria's Beautiful Mink Coat Transformation

See Maria's Video here:

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

Debbie 's Sable Coat Transformation.

Watch the video here: Sable Coat Transformation

Debbie's coat was in excellent condition.!!! The fur was soft and supple and easy to work with. She chose to use her lining. The lining was beautifully embroidered with wonderful detail. For this particular coat I chose to have the fur all running in the same direction. The lining was highlighted with a beautiful rose quilting pattern. The border around the original backing was a contrasting brown color, that picked up the colors of the embroidery.  The final dimensions of the throw was 52 inches by 53 inches.

Stunning Beaver Coat Transformed into a Throw & Pillow

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.

Brooke's Beautiful Mink Coat Transformed into a Memory Bear & Throw

Watch Brooke's Fur Transformation here!

Brooke's Lovely Mink Coat Transformed into a Throw & Teddy Bear It was such an honor to make this beautiful Mink Throw & Teddy Bear. The completed throw measures 48 inches wide by 50 inches long. The customer chose to keep her lining, as well as her monogram. With the remaining mink scraps Brooke opted to make a Memory Teddy Bear. We used the button from the coat and made the bear’s nose. The lining was also used on the paw pads and inner ears.

Teddy Bear Pattern: https://www.funkyfriendsfactory.com/melody-memory-bear-keepsake-toy-sewing-pattern

Mink Coats Transformed into 3 Teddy Bears & a Mink Bunny

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

 

Karen's Lovely Mink Coat Transformed into a Throw & Cowl

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.

Beautiful Beaver Coat Transformed into a Throw

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

Carol's Mink Transformed into a 20 by 60 Bolster & Pompoms

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.

Virginia's Mink & Seal Throws and a Pillow Too!

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.

Denise's Mink Coat Transformed into a Throw & Two Bolster Pillows

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.

 

Pam's Beautiful Black Mink Coat Transformation

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

Five Beautiful Repurposed Furs Coats

Watch the video here: Five Beautiful Repurposed Furs Coats

The customer sent me 5 fur coats that belonged to her grandmother. Each one of the coats will be transformed into a throw and given to different family members. There were four minks and one rabbit coat. The biggest challenge was trying to remove a very bad musty odor from the furs. I am so happy that I could create these wonderful family heirlooms.

Lovely Beaver Coat Transformed into a Beaver Throw

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.

Mink Coat Transformed Into A Throw With A Lovely Chevron Pattern.

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.

Making a Queen/King Size Fur Blanket.

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!

 

Susan's Mink & Beaver Project

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.


Beautiful Beaver Coat Transformed into a Throw & Scarf

This Beaver coat was so beautiful and wonderful to work with. The Throw measured 47 by 50. I used a layer of batting as well as a layer of lightweight weft. That will help stabilize the throw, as it is heavy. With the left over fur we made a scarf with measures 10 by 70 inches. It can be used as a shawl or wrapped around like a scarf. I made two videos of the project. One focusing on the throw and part two on just the scarf.

You can see them here:

Part one: Making the Beaver Throw

Part two: Making the Scarf

Enjoy the process!