Sewing with fur

 My last project restyling an old mink fur coat  for a client. The coat was inherited from her mother and she wanted to wear that coat but it should be made in her size and with a more modern look. The coat was too large and the design old fashion.The mink fur and leather side were still in an good condition to make it work. 

 

The tools I use for working with fur and pigskin suede,  my furrier knife to cut the fur, a leather knife to cut the leather, a hammer to pound the leather seams, textile adhesive tape to stabilize the cutting lines of the fur, special leather interfacing LE420, glue for leather, plus handsewing glove needles size 9 .

I restyled the coat to a 3/4 length and added pigskin suede in a matching color to give it a

 more modern look.

 

furrier knife to cut the fur from the leather side:

 

My old but sturdy Singer 20U for sewing the suede , I used special leather needles size 90 and thread size 80 for sewing and size 50 for top stitching the zipper.

 and my fur sewing machine ,

You can see me at work using my Allbook Hashfield fur sewing machine a small video from me while I was sewing white rabbit fur with my fur machine. ( the video was taken with a simple photo camera so the quality is not that good) , but it will give you an idea how such a machine works. I used a sewing awl to push the fur hairs to the inside.

I removed the coat interior from the coat,

 and used a soft flannel cotton as a substitute interlining,

Fur collar wrong side with tape to stabilize the edges,

Lambswool interfacing inside the collar ( to prevent the stitching lines showing on the suede collar side,

  

I used two different lining fabrics for the sleeve lining.

I stitched the heavy satin lining to the lambs wool and used a thinner lining fabric as a backing so there are no visible stitching lines towards the leather side of the sleeves.

 

 

I started sewing some samples since I never made a real fur garment , but I attended a two-day workshop 2 years ago at the Dutch Fur Institute where I learned to use a fur sewing machine and some sewing techniques.

 

The procedure in sewing this coat is making samples and a lot of brainstorming making a plan for sewing directions taking notes and find a way to sew without pins, basting, and marking on the right side of the fur or leather.The fur pattern parts seam allowances are only 2-3 mm wide , so there is no way to alter the final garment. I did made 2 muslin coats for fitting in unbleached cotton to modify my self drafted pattern. 

 

 Just a few detail pictures  of sample sewing,

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

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I also added an inside pocket with triangles at the edge to embellish the pocket.

 I copied that embellishing idea from an old fur coat I have in my stash which was made by the same furrier house as the clients coat.Threads magazine did an article about this embellishing idea  too, see issue 73 ( it is called in that article a “Chinese wedding pocket”)

 

 

 Pattern cutting lines stabilized with adhesive tape,

 

 

 

 

 

 Neck line corded piping ,

 

 

 

 

 

 Hem facing to attach the hem lining,

Two way zipper sandwiched between front and facing, and corded piping between facing and lining.

  

 Back view suede collar.

 

  Restyled fur coat,

 

 

 Inside view restyled coat,

 

For anybody who wants to learn sewing with fur or leather I can recommend

The book “How to sew with Leather, Suede, Fur “by Margaret B Krohn and Phyllis W Schwebke, it is an old book (my copy is from 1966)

 

  

Please do not copy or use my pictures or text.