There is something about Fall that makes animal feature coats extra cute. Maybe it's so many sweet woodland critters to pick from? My middle guy needed a new fleece jacket, so I raided my stash and whipped up my fun Crafty Little Fox Coat for him with just a basic pattern, fleece and a little initiative:
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| Clever like a fox thanks to a fleecy fox coat |
This little fox's ears prick up at any sign of danger...
...or food:
He likes peeking around corners to see who's around, so he had to have a fun tail like a real fox:
The tail is even 3-dimensional for some extra realism (and cuddly cuteness):
There are also cozy front pockets to keep hands warm. I deliberately made the sleeves a little long too, so we could roll up the cuffs for a little color detail (and get some extra wear time as he grows).
A fox coat is so much fun for pretending in and making the everyday a little more magical:
I used this base pattern previously to do my Just A Giraffe Fleece Coat:
It was complete with ears, horns and a swingy tail:
Now onto this season's critter - the Little Fox!
How I made it:
For the coat itself, a basic fleece zip-up hoodie pattern was needed. There are lots out there, but I used Simplicity 5362. That pattern was ideal because it's easy to sew (and includes kids & adults sizes). I drafted up some ear pieces that were about 3 inches wide by 4 inches high and cut out two pairs: one each from my red and cream anti-pill fleeces:
I stitched my ears together (right sides facing) with a 1/4 inch seam allowance and then trimmed the seams down with pinking shears to make it easy to turn them right side out:
I stitched together the hood pieces and I clipped a small line on either side of the hood just 1/2 inch smaller than the width of each ear and inserted them in. I wanted to have a little fold in the front to give the ears a little curved shape when sewn in.
On the wrong side, I stitched across the opening to close it and sandwich the hood & ear layers together.
For the tail I freehand drew a bushy & curved fox tail on paper to make a pattern to fit my coat's back panel. I drew an irregular zig-zag near the top for the white tip.
I cut out the main tail piece from my red fleece and then cut off the tip section and used it to cut out that portion from the cream fleece. I cut that piece just slightly larger than the pattern (maybe an extra 1/8 inch all the way around) so that it would totally cover the red piece when put together.
I top stitched the white tip onto the red tail at the zig-zag.
Then I pinned the tail to the back panel and topstitched them together from one side of the tail, up and back down to the other, leaving the bottom section open.
I gently stuff the tail with polyfill to give it some body and then basted the opening closed:
I followed the pattern directions to put all the pieces together to make the actual coat. This pattern happens to be unlined, so I made two jackets - the one with the fox features and a second one with cream fleece sleeves for the lining.
To attach the outer & lining, I did the sleeves first by folding the sleeve cuff of the lining right side out and inserting it into the corresponding sleeve of the outer:
Then, I pinned them together, matching up the seams and stitched them together:
To put the main parts of the coat outer & lining together, I pinned, then sewed the lining and outer together around the front, hood and bottom edges, leaving a few inch gap at the bottom to turn right side out. I turned everything right side out, pushed the lining into the outer coat and then slipstitched the opening closed.
I rolled up the sleeves so the creamy lining would show at the cuffs.
Now my little guy is ready to be as clever and warm as a fox this Fall:
