Coat to Frankenskirt refashion

You may remember my Frankenrobe from last summer, decent looking on the outside, a real mess on the inside. Well, I've just created a skirt to keep it company...

This refashioning story actually begins many years ago, when I was just Blithe Young Thing en France and not yet Mommy. I had started my first real job, with my first decent paycheck, and I needed a good winter coat. I wanted something warm and not involving synthetic fibers. I eventually found a beautiful camel-coloured overcoat from the French brand Apostrophe, a wool-cashmere blend. I loved it, it was on sale and so I bought it. I even wore it home, if I recall correctly. I enjoyed this coat for a number of years, but had to put it away during my pregnancies and have never fit into it since. Taking it out of the cupboard a few weeks ago, I also realised that it was quite threadbare in places and that the lining was badly torn, as were the pockets.

I decided to see what I could salvage from the beautiful fabric and to use it to make a skirt. This was a very interesting learning experience in so many ways. First, I toyed with using a Burda pattern for the skirt (see this recent post). After letting that drop, I decided just to "freestyle" an A-line skirt. I had some cheap rayon in my stash and also some thrifted lace and also decided to wing using those to line the skirt. And I'd use the coat's original belt as the waistband.

The whole process was quite painful, to be honest. I made it all up as I went along and I made a lot of mistakes. But on the happy side, some parts did turn out nicely and overall the skirt is wearable. And I have to say that, in a very humble way, the skirt itself, with its camel colour, wool/cashmere fabric, and the raised (if that's the right word) seams, reminds me a little bit of Max Mara, yay!

The full story (and the good, the bad and the ugly pictures) are over here, on my blog.