The Addams Family: Fester's Fabulous!

Completing my Darkness collection is a very unexpected Uncle Fester! (Actually, it's Fester with a little Pugsley combo, just like the Morticia/Gomez mixture of my last post.)  Yes, I know that Fester is bald.  But I can't do a whole standalone picture series with a bald headed model!

On the show, Fester wore a dirty looking monk's robe with a fleece or fur muffler. I recall the robe being burlap, but maybe it wasn't.  Either way, it didn't look too comfortable or flattering to the body.

For this outfit, I wanted to make something just as figure-hiding while still being fabulous.  Baggy and bulky are usually not my style, so I of course had to pair it with something fitted and skimpy, hence the hotpants and tight sweater just to make me feel more at home.  The result is a ensemble that is part Addams, part Dr. Zhivago, part Streetwalker.  Love it!

If you look at the non-fur part, yes, that's burlap, or a version of it, that I got a huge bolt of years ago for a dollar a yard sitting on a street corner.  I've used it to upholster some of my furniture peices and make window coverings, and now, it's a bog coat.  I'm telling you, after working with all that burlap and fur for this project, my nasal passages are hating me!  I'm dreading vacuuming my sewing room and looking forward to it at the same time.

FUN FACT! Wondering what make me think of making those funky curved cut-out layers with the brown tabs hanging out?  When I make mock-ups of symmetrical pieces, especially ones that require a lot of fabric, I often only make one side. After all, why waste the material if both sides are the same? Well, with this coat's mock-up, I made one side properly, and the other out of scrap material that was left over after I cut out the mock sleeve.  So the curve at the bottom that you see is actually the shape of the stop of the coat's sleeve pattern laid flat.  I liked the way it looked, so I used it as an overlayer!

I'm not going to lie and say that this coat has nothing to do with my experience in making Henry VIII costumes, but I think that I've updated it competently and Nora thinks it's hot!  Literally!