Watch the video here: Michele's full length tanuki coat transformation

This project consisted of a full length tanuki coat To be transformed into a throw and a pillow. The fur was in excellent condition. The fur was very thick and must have been super warm in its heyday. It also accompanied a headband, as told by the customer that she used to wear it mainly in the 80s.

The final measurement of the coat was 56 by 58. The pillow measured 16 by 16. The customer chose to use her lining for the back of the pillow as well as maintaining her monogram. She used a pre quilted backing for the throw.

See Video Here

This project consisted of a light tan mink coat, a dark brown knee length mink jacket, a striped tan mink vest with a leather backing, and one white mink sweater. The customer originally wanted two throws exactly the same. The throws would be given to family members. We tried a variation with all the furs together, and we opted to keep the dark brown mink with the light striped mink Together and the tan/light brown mink with the white mink border. There was enough leftover fur that we were able to make one 16 by 16 pillow and one14 by 14 pillow. I was able to use the leather from the striped mink vest to form the back of the larger pillow. I was also able to use the lining to form the back of the smaller pillow. Each pillow incorporated a monogram from the original jackets. The white mink was very delicate. It was obvious from when I removed the lining, it was repaired before. There were quite a number of patch work areas on the inside of the sweater. I used cold cloth to help support the white mink.

Watch the video here: Five Beautiful Repurposed Furs Coats

The customer sent me 5 fur coats that belonged to her grandmother. Each one of the coats will be transformed into a throw and given to different family members. There were four minks and one rabbit coat. The biggest challenge was trying to remove a very bad musty odor from the furs. I am so happy that I could create these wonderful family heirlooms.

See the video here: Making a Queen/ King Fur Blanket

This had to be the most challenging fur project that I have done so far. It consisted of:

 ·   2 Full Length Fox Coats

·   1 Full Length White Mink Coat

·   3 Mink Shawls ~ 2 Tan Mink and 1 Silver Mink

·   1 Patchwork Fox Short Waisted Jacket

 I gave the customer a few different types of patterns to choose from. The first one was a patchwork blanket made of 12. 5 inch squares. The squares we're mixed in random order. The second blanket was also a patchwork blanket, but instead of random squares they were placed in a repeating order. The next pattern was a pattern made of 7 vertical strips with a patchwork like border.   The strips were 84 inches long. Ultimately this was the pattern that the customer chose.

 The repeat pattern is Brown Fox-White Mink- Silver Fox-Silver Mink- Silver Fox – White Mink – Brown Fox. All Strips were 12.5 by 84, except for the center panel, which was 8.5 by 84.  Just not enough Silver Mink  to make the 12.5 strip.

 The side borders were 3 inches each side. The sides had to be narrower because there wasn't enough leftover fur to have a wider side border. The top and bottom border were 5.5 inches wide. One of the mink shawls was a little damaged and dried out. It wouldn't be able to hold the stitches very well. The patchwork fox jacket also had some damage to it. One particular fur that was in that coat was dried out. So, I had to work around those sections. The blanket would measure 90 by 95. Just a little shy of a king size blanket that the customer wanted. It is very heavy and will be extremely warm!