Resistance is Futile

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The Chanel Fall 2010 collection has invaded my brain and refused to leave. The second I saw it, I knew that my life would not be complete until I own a fake fur miniskirt. Somehow, the ideal fur mini emerged in my mind in a dark green color.

Dark green fake fur is oddly difficult to find. I checked 2 New York fabric shops unsuccessfully, then I found some at Mood, the third place I looked. So, when you are looking for dark green fake fur (and who isn’t?), make your life easier and head straight to Mood.

I noticed a similar garment in the window of the Max Mara store. It had ribbon up the side seams, which makes a lot of sense from a construction standpoint, so I copied that feature. With the ribbon covering the seam, I could hand stitch an abutted seam, then cover it with the ribbon, thus eliminating the bulk of seam allowances. Instead of ribbon, I used strips of fabric left over from this dress.

The fake fur seemed like it would be a nightmare in my sewing machine, so I hand-sewed the side seams and the darts. I machine sewed the grosgrain to the waistband and the ribbon on the side seams. I did not hem it at all. I was considering hand overcasting the lower edge, but I really do not think it is necessary. If I change my mind about that, I may hand overcast the lower edge in the future.

All of the photos in this post are lightened considerably to show the detail.

side seam detail

Inside side seam with lining pushed aside. You can see I hand-stitched an abutted seam, then machine stitched the trim over.

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