The dream is to own fur coats but unfortunately my wallet can't keep up with my dream. So in order to keep up with my clothing dreams, the best option for me is to make my own clothes which I have been doing since around 2013.

Fur is the one fabric I had never sewn until 2017. First of all it was always so difficult to find it and when I did the price was around R100/m for something that resembled plastic. 2017 I got lucky and managed to find quality faux fur in the streets of Durban's city centre.

The first faux fur I found was not exactly what I was looking for but when you find a gem by chance you buy it. I would have preferred longer hair but what can I do. Before putting the sewing machine on I watched a video on Youtube to figure out how to actually sew this. Little did I know that you don't just cut fur, you have to cut it as if you are cutting a new born baby's nails. I was already put off because I am lazy and the idea of only cutting fabric with only the tip of a pair of scissors made me want to turn the fur into a rug rather. Then I remembered my dream and fetched my scissors.


When working with fur make sure you use the sharpest scissors you own and wear old clothing unless you want fur all over your clothes. Also make sure to have a lint roller close with you. If you are not too keen on eating fur, wear a mask or just make sure you cut it properly.

I'm not much of a pattern maker so I used generic measurements as well as old sleeve patterns that I made last year. After spending an hour cutting I was ready to sew. It took me two days to make the jacket as it was my first but it now takes me a couple of hours.


I remembered that I had seen animal print that looked like it was more for a blanket than clothing on one of my shopping trips. I didn't buy it because I would have laughed at someone wearing fabric that resembled a blanket. But what's wrong with buying fabric that looks like a blanket?


I am terrible with animals so please don't ask me which is which. I have made two jackets and in the images I photographed them together. I used the same pattern for all my jackets, just increase or decrease size depending on the amount of fabric I had.
I don't use any padding or lining in the inside of my jackets because team lazy which is why they are not as thick as what you see in the stores or on the internet.


The fourth fur I have made for winter came by chance. I was in Bond Street in Durban where I get all my fabric. I had already spent my full budget by the time I walked into the last store. As I was looking through the fabric I saw a strip of cream fur hiding by the till. In awe I took it only to find out that it was the scarf of the store owner. I died from embarrassment and sadness as I thought that the fabric did not exist in the store. Because the store owner and I know each other she laughed it off and directed me to the rest of the fabric in the store. I went to heaven when I saw she had the fur in maroon, black and cream. Unfortunately because my budget was depleted I could not buy all the colours so only walked out the store with maroon.


A few days later I had a faux fur maroon jacket. I ate maroon faux fur for a couple of days as it is so difficult to clean it but it was worth it. I only had enough to make for two other people so there are only three of these pieces roaming South Africa at the moment.

Even though we are nearing the end of winter in South Africa and I still haven't worn majority of my fur, I am glad that I finally made it. It was worth the late nights, the sweeping, vacuuming and lint rolling.


For those who want to place orders, unfortunately I only have a bit of the animal print and brown fur left so let me know.

A big thank you to Thozama who assisted with taking the photographs. All photos taken with a Samsung S6 and edited with VSCO. All the clothes in the images were made by yours truly.