tween style: faux fur firefly jacket

As Kristin already mentioned on Friday, the third issue of STYLO came out this past week. It’s an online magazine that shows the world that you can sew cool clothes for your kids. It includes dressier clothes and amazing fashion photography.

Stacy is back today to share her work that appeared in the latest issue of STYLO. It’s a complete head-to-toe Oliver + S ensemble that she created for her tween girl. One garment is a faux fur Firefly Jacket that is a unique and luxurious piece, something special and perfect for the holiday season that is now upon us. The Firefly Jacket is designed to be a reversible jacket, so just know that when it’s made out of faux fur it becomes nonreversible. For this jacket under the suggested fabrics it does state: “Note: Not recommended for directional prints or napped fabrics.” Stacy figured out how to make it work with a napped faux fur and is going to show us how. Take it away Stacy!

 

 

I was very excited to participate in the STYLO Issue 3, and to use some Oliver + S patterns for my little tween!

I used three different patterns for this black, white, and silver look: the Sailboat Top, the Sketchbook Shorts, and the Firefly Jacket. I modified the patterns a bit, and those details are below.

For this black and white striped top I used the Sailboat Top pattern.

 

 

The only modifications I made were to use a knit for this woven pattern, and I used hollow hexagon shaped snaps instead of buttons at the shoulders, having the back snap over the front.

 

 

This pattern goes up to a size 8 (just outside the tween range), so I added an extra 1.5″ to the sleeves for my long kid who is nine. The length was about what I wanted for this, but a normal shirt I would have added more.

(By the way, I made the belt too with a “buckle” I got at a fabric warehouse, glitter stretch velvet elastic, and a silver snap.)

For the metallic black and white shorts I used the Sketchbook Shorts pattern.

 

 

I wanted a pair of shorts that had a cuff, and could not find any, so as a sewist (the reason why we sew!), I modified the pattern. The material here is a bit of a scratchy and unraveling fabric, so I lined everything using a black and white animal skin print cotton. I used the lining as if it were interfacing and just sewed everything at the same time.

Here is what I changed for the pattern:

• I added a zipper fly. The link is to an Oliver + S tutorial on how to add a zip fly, so my contribution is to just say the only extra I cut was the fly shield and some extra length on the waist piece for the overlap. If you haven’t done a fly zipper before, it is not that hard. At this point I try to do them more often than not. My kids are tweens and are at that age where they need to have clothes that have real zippers.

 

 

 

• I cut off 3″ from the length and added a cuff. I measured where I wanted the cuff, cut enough where I would have a little hem underneath, and cuffed at the length I needed. I sewed a seam on the bottom of the cuff, and attached at the side seams to keep the cuff from folding down.

 

 

 

• I added a 1″ pleat to the front. Just make sure it is even on each side, and sewed it down about 2 inches. I wanted a pair of shorts with a pleat and I knew this would be wide on her. Most things are, as she is fairly thin. This brought the front in enough that I didn’t need to add any elastic to the front waistband. There is still elastic on the back waistband.

 

 

For the faux fur jacket I used the Firefly Jacket pattern. This is super soft faux fur, and it looks like it has black and white striped feathers hanging down. I made a size 9 jacket from only one yard (58 inches wide) of faux fur! For the jacket lining I used a solid black fabric.

 

 

I love the pattern piece for this jacket, where it has the front and back in one piece, joined in the center back. Unfortunately that doesn’t work with fabric that has a nap, like faux fur where it goes in only one direction.

I had to cut the pattern piece up, and cut it so the nap went the same way for the front and back. So the modifications are:

• Cut the front and back separate, and add a good 1/2″ seam allowance. I cut each piece separately, and did not double up the fabric when cutting.

 

 

 

 

Important note when cutting fur: don’t just cut it like a normal fabric, thereby cutting the fur on the pattern lines. This has long fur, so I slid the scissors under the fabric backing, making sure to not cut the fur “hairs” off. Otherwise it will look like you gave your coat a haircut.

• When sewing with fur you need to have a long stitch length, and push the fur on the other side of the stitch line. After sewing the seam you have to use the end of a seam ripper, or some other similar apparatus, and pull the fur out of the seam. Otherwise, it is very obvious where it was sewed.

 

 

 

Faux fur isn’t hard to sew with, it’s just messy and a little cumbersome. Be sure to shake off the fabric outside after cutting (same goes with minky fabric). Otherwise everything gets coated with cut fur!

I hope you liked my Oliver + S STYLO outfit, and the modifications I made for it to be tween friendly. She did really like the outfit and especially the plush fur coat!