Good news, friends–I figured out what to do with one of the fabrics I bought in August: A TIGER TRENCH!

I’ve noticed The Youth wearing kimonos as coats and I like that look…but I know that I would just feel like I was wearing a robe all day, since I am not A Youth. So I made a drapey trench coat to give that kimono feel but, you know, look like real clothes.

Many thanks to Doc for tramping across a park to “find a good background” and then taking dozens and dozens of pictures. He’s a good man.

I used Simplicity 8554, which I’d already made so I knew it fit. This is a wonderful rayon crepe from Fabric Godmother and it was really effortless to work with (I’ve had bad experiences with crepes before). The pattern is straightforward and fits well–all I did differently from the instructions was to blind stitch the facings down, since they wanted to flap around in the lighter weight fabric.

Now I’m one step closer to my ultimate goal of only feline-print clothing!