Navy Salute

At the moment, all my sewing plans are decidedly season inappropriate (boo, hiss winter), which is why it's been a while since I've been sat behind the pedal of my sewing machine. The main contributing factor to this is that I lack the sewing confidence to make more complicated things like coats, jackets, and items involving bulkier fabric. It's something I definitely want to work on, but right now my main concern is warmth, which I'm definitely not going to get from making day dresses or summer tops. So, when I came across this navy blue faux fur, I knew it would be making its way towards my sewing machine pronto (so soft! so warm!).

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The fact that my blue faux fur was already cut into the perfect size and shape for a fur scarf dictated what I did with it. Not that I had any problem at all with sewing up a faux fur stole; in fact this one from Helen Moore had caught my eye a few months previously. After a little pinspiration, I was all set on making an oversized, bulky stole a la Olivia Palermo, and I figured it would be a nice simple project to ease myself back into sewing after a few months break.

I'm no expert on faux fur by any means, but I think the one I bought is one of the better quality ones, mainly because it is really soft, as opposed to some of the more matted faux furs out there. I picked up the remnant in a charity shop for £3, which came in a lot under the £98 price tag of the Helen Moore one! Originally, I'd planned on using a navy blue linen for the lining (I love linen of all kinds), however, when I went to buy the piece I had my heart set on, I found it had gone! Let this be a lesson to me; I don't want to become a crazy fabric hoarder (my small stash is very well organised), but if I see a fabric that is plain and I know I will use, I should pick it up. So, instead I used a poly-cotton mix. I know that the lining of choice is usually a satin, but I really didn't feel like sewing with both faux fur and satin (a sewing disaster waiting to happen). My lining fabric's a little thin, but it works fine as a lining, so it's not an issue.

For the process, I simply cut the lining fabric a little smaller than my faux fur (150cm by 45cm), cut the ends into a curved shape, and sewed the two sides together, before turning out and finishing. Following the guidelines I set myself at the beginning of this year, I was more cautious than I would normally be with such a simple project. I basted the faux fur and the lining together (I would have pinned, but I hate pinning), which turned out to be a good move, as the bulkiness of the faux fur meant that it shifted a lot whilst sewing.

All in all, I'm rather happy with this quick little project. It has to be one of the most worn items I've sewn, mainly due to the warmth of it. There's a couple of things I might change next time around - the lining's a little baggy, which I'm a little annoyed about, considering I cut it significantly smaller than the faux fur itself. It's not bad enough to warrant unstitching and resewing it, but annoying all the same.

Also, the size might be something I could rethink. On paper, 150cm by 45cm doesn't sound so big, but let me tell you, IRL this thing is huge! Ok, so not by Lenny Kravitz proportions, but it's the width of my scarf which is the real issue. When compared to a shop bought faux fur stole, the width of mine is more than double it! Oops.. This makes it a little bulky to wear, and the weight of it is an issue as well. Seriously, wearing this all day should count as some kind of weightlifting exercise. But again, it's so warm, not even this will stop me from wearing it.

On an unrelated note, this was the most public place I've ever tried taking pictures of myself. I live in a small town where standing around in front of a tripod is not considered normal behaviour. But it was a sunny day, and I wanted to take photos in a more interesting place, so I guess the odd looks were worth it!