I thought Angel needed a more feminine coat, so I went looking on eBay and I found this purple and white puffy parka for only $9.99. The seller was in Rhode Island, too…it’s like it was meant to be!
It wasn’t completely perfect, though. The coat closed with a strip of velcro, and it was rather warn out. It wouldn’t stay all the way closed when Angel moved – and an open coat won’t keep anyone warm.
So, I decided to fix it up. My plan? Replace the velcro with a zipper. There was just one catch, though…I’ve never sewn a zipper in my life. I briefly considered taking it to my tailor and just letting them deal with it – they’re aces at zippers – but then my do-it-yourself nature came out and I said to myself, “I can do this.” So I looked up “how to sew a zipper” on Google.
I read the instructions carefully. And then I completely disregarded them because I couldn’t figure out which of the spare sewing machine feet I have was the zipper foot. I also got the wrong kind of zipper, because I couldn’t find the right kind in the right size and the right colour for the right price. You see, there are two kinds of zippers: open zippers, which are the kind that open up on the bottom, the kind you usually use on jackets; and then there are closed zippers, which you use on things like pants and skirts and bags. The only 7″ purple zipper I could find was the closed kind. But who’s really going to see it, right? It’s just a cat coat, and that part will be down by her belly anyway.
I pretty much made a hash of the sewing. I basically ignored all the zipper sewing-in rules and just sewed the damn thing on. Twice. And then reinforced it with zig-zag stitches. It works, though, and that’s what matters.
I found some white braid frog closures on Etsy. I really wanted little coat toggles, but I couldn’t find any that were the right size and colour. Their sole purpose is to cover up my crappy zipper sewing, but they also help keep the coat closed and they nicely balance out the white on the back of the coat. All in all, if you don’t look too closely, it looks really nice. (Don’t look too closely at this photo; you can totally see the end of the wrong type of zipper hanging out at the bottom.)
It’s warm, and it looks amazing on her. That’s what matters.
And she loves it! Look at her. She is fierce! Apparently Jacoby isn’t the only clotheshorse in the family.
Oh. Well. Speak of the devil…look who’s here!
Angel was less than thrilled at Jake’s photobombing.
Can you hear her exasperated sigh through your computer screen?
“Hey, Angel. Whatcha doin’? Nice coat!”
“Oh! Mom, are you taking pictures? Awesome! I’m ready!”
“How’s this? Is this good?” (*sigh*)
“Or is this my better side?” (“Seriously?”)
“Whatever, I’m here now, so go ahead and shoot.” (“Oy…”)
“Hate to break it to you, Jake…this is MY photoshoot. Not yours. Mine.”
“Really? Hmph. Just because you have a new coat? I have lots of coats.”
“What. Ever. Go ahead then. Don’t mind me…Obviously you aren’t, anyway…”
“My eye. I am rolling it.”
The Daily Abyssinian...and Singapura 