Friday, April 15, 2016

Fleece Glam


Disclaimer: Forgive any typos, it can be rather difficult to type around this tongue in my cheek.

I found myself facing a whole day of doctor's visits, and the requisite dallying for hours in multiple waiting rooms.  Coats just don't have the right ratio of comfort to warmth.  I needed something stylish, warm, with all the comfort of hanging out on the couch for the day.

I needed "lounge glam".

In my latest round of BMV perusals, I kept finding myself drawn to the drapey wrap look.

The line drawings of commercial patterns were pretty basic (two rectangles, one slit down the middle, with a curvy bit for the neck), so I figured I could save my shekels and draft it all on my onesies.  I had a length of non-pill fleece from Hancock in my stock, leftover from crafting a faux fur blanket to keep my man warm during the harsh cold winter spent fighting zombies.

"Luckily" I had just enough to craft a wrap.

After evening up the edges with a rotary cutter, and cutting the front slit and neck allowance, I slaved (with several loooooo...oong breaks in between) all night crafting this exquisite example of high fashion.


Seeing as how fleece has a "wee" bit of give on it, I figured I should deign to stabilize the neck and front with something.  Since they're the most likely hems to show, I used a stretch lingerie lace on the neckline and front seams.

Really, it's all fun and games until you run out of lingerie lace.  Then it's just straight hems all the rest of the way.






For the most part, it performed as I desired while lolling about in the height of paper gown couture.  (Doctor:  "Sorry for keeping you waiting so long."  Me:  "Never you mind, I'm fabulous!")

It even kept me warm and snug on the street in the early part of the morning.  However, my city being the mercurial beast that she is, the weather went downhill faster than a bad blind date.  What had started as a mild low-40's day turned into a blustery, arctic wind-blade and hail from hell kind of a day.

Were I to make this article again (and let's face it, I probably will), I would certainly make sure it was lined, interlined, braced, bunkered, and otherwise fortified against the varied elements that the Second City can throw at you during the day. The fleece, while plush, has the wind-breaking capacity of single-ply.

That being said, I will admit I have receive a lot of compliments on this, my ode to fleece blankie chic.  Maybe it's because the style is so different from the multitude of black or grey wool coats of the same cut running around during the colder months.  Maybe it's because of the big black sunglasses I wear just about everywhere, regardless of season or time of day.  Maybe it's because I remind them of how they'd rather be snuggled up on their couch, under a cozy blanket, binge-watching the latest seasonal release of [insert pop culture reference show here]*.


*I don't watch a ton of domestic TV.  If it's weird, foreign and on Netflix, I've probably watched it.

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