A New-to-me Winter Coat
February 20, 2025
I want to start by saying that I love both of these coats. The version on the left is what came home with me from the store. The one on the right is how it looks now, after I played around with it a bit.
Last year I went to the post holiday sale at Pearl’s Vintage. (That shop has the best stuff! If you’re ever in Lunenburg, I highly recommend making this a stop.) I saw this coat and I loved it but I went home without it. I was worried it was too fancy for me. I couldn’t get it out of my head so I went back again the next day and bought it. I wore it a few times and even though I really liked it, my gut feeling was right. It was too fancy for me. My biggest outings every day are walking the dog so if I don’t feel good in it when I’m walking the dog then it won’t work for me in the long run. I thought if I could change out the collar and the cuffs for something a little bit more understated then I would really love it. I’ve worn it quite a bit in the last few weeks since I finished making the changes and I can honestly say that this is true. I love this coat. It’s warm and stylish. It’s fancy enough for when I’m wearing a skirt but not so fancy that I feel silly walking the dog. And it is really warm. If the wind is fierce and it’s minus ten, it feels a little chilly but that’s true of most coats when it’s that miserable.
After washing the coat, the collar and cuffs, which were sewn on with a chain stitch, started to come away from the coat. My idea to replace them was solidified since I would have had to take the inside apart enough to resew them anyway. The tie across the back was sitting a little low and could stand to be a little tighter. The lining seemed like it was in good shape but when I removed it and held it up to the light, it was full of little holes. The lining was also a little bit too long and it was hanging past the hemline. It’s especially obvious on the left side of the back.
The coat was missing a large button on the front. I was lucky that the extra buttons were still sewn to the inside of the facing and just needed to be sewn in place.
I wasn’t sure what I wanted to use as a replacement for the collar and cuffs. I knew I didn’t want to buy any new fabric so I was keeping an open mind and hoping that when I saw something at the thrift store it would jump out at me. I found this brown coat and thought that might work. But what really convinced me to buy the coat was the lining fabric. It was your run of the mill polyester lining on the outside but the inside had this cheesecloth type fabric stuffed with little felt bits on the inside. I figured that since I was doing so much work to the coat, it wouldn’t be much extra to replace the lining. What could be better than replacing it with something warmer? It would make the coat perfect for this Atlantic weather. As soon as I got home, I put the coat from Pearl’s on the mini-me and then draped the arms from the brown coat over it to simulate the collar. It was so bad. I’m not even sure what I was thinking, it was so bad. Luckily the lining was a keeper.
Enter this little pink number. It had the most beautiful faux fur lining. It’s so soft you would swear that it’s real fur. The pile is short so it immediately feels less fancy without looking too plain. The pink shell and leftover fur won’t go to waste. I have already started using it to make a coat for Reese. The only hiccup was that I had to cut the collar in three pieces and the cuffs each in two pieces. The pink jacket was too narrow to cut them in one piece and have the pile going in the right direction. The pile might be short but it’s long enough to disguise the seams.
Looking at the sheer size of that brown coat, I thought there would be plenty of lining for my shorter coat. In the end, I had just enough. There were two squares about 8 inches by 8 inches leftover and that was it. I didn’t take into account the flair on my coat versus the straight cut on the brown coat. The panels weren’t wide enough to span the flair. As a remedy, I cut the pieces at 90˚ and then had to seam them together. It’s really obvious on the inside but on the visible side you can barely tell.
The original coat didn’t have a hanging loop. I thought it would be nice to use the original lining. I also used the original lining to add a trim piece between the coat and the lining. I like how it turned out.
I in the end, I think this combination gives a nod to the classic shearling coat. Maybe that’s why it looks good with jeans while the cut of it makes it great with a skirt. Whatever the reason, I love this coat. It’s going to last me for quite a few years to come.