Accessorizing for Winter!

Remember the expansion panel that I made last month for my black zippie? Well two weeks ago on my way down to my sister-in-law's baby shower I swung by the Leather and Sewing Supply Depot to have them match zippers for three other articles of clothing: 1 puffy vest, 1 ski jacket, and 1 down-filled winter coat.  The little European woman recognized me from before and asked how the pregnancy was going :)

The service I got was amazing. She was able to match all three zippers and customized the length of each zipper from ones that were originally too long.  She was very fast and efficient, and in the end the total cost of the zippers plus her service was $10.  Fantastic.  Here are the Before and After shots of my winter coat, which is by far the warmest coat I own.  

Before

After

Incredibly, when I was sewing this panel two weeks ago I had no trouble zipping up the front but clearly Baby has had a growth spurt.  I used the same black ribbed fabric from my zippie but covered it in a brown satin fabric to match the coat.  I also sewed a bunch of horizontal lines into the panel to give it a quilted look similar to the coat.

Here's a belt that I had sewn last year to try and make this coat (which I've had since university!) a little more trendy and figure-flattering.  Funny how last year I was tapering the coat in at the waist, and this year I'm doing the complete opposite! Anyway it still works with the expansion panel and at least gives me a little bit of a figure....well....maybe from the profile.  Okay Winter, bring it on!

       

custom belt and expansion panel