Okay, so everyone and their dog seemed to be after those “Jennifer Coats” a while back. They looked pretty slick in the pictures, you know? Good price, trendy styles. I thought, “Yeah, I need one of those.”
My First (and almost last) Jennifer Coat
So, I bit the bullet. Went online, picked one out – a nice-looking wool blend, seemed perfect for chilly mornings. It arrived, and for about a week, I was pretty happy. Looked good, felt okay. Then things started to go south, fast.
First, a button popped off. Just like that, ping! Gone. I sewed it back on, no biggie. But then the lining near the pocket started to rip. I wasn’t even doing anything rough, just putting my keys in! It was like the thing was made of paper. I was so annoyed. I mean, it wasn’t super expensive, but it wasn’t dirt cheap either. You expect some level of quality, right?
- Button came off almost immediately.
- Lining tore after a week of normal use.
- The material started pilling like crazy after just a few wears.
I even tried to contact their customer service. What a joke. Got some generic email back saying “wear and tear isn’t covered.” Wear and tear after two weeks? Come on. I felt totally ripped off.
Taking Matters into My Own Hands
I was so fed up. I wasn’t going to buy another one of their coats, that’s for sure. I complained to my friends, and one of them, Sarah, she’s pretty crafty. She said, “Why don’t you try to fix it properly, or even better, learn to make your own stuff?” At first, I laughed. Me? Sew? The last time I touched a sewing machine was in 7th-grade home ec, and that was a disaster. But the more I thought about it, the more the idea grew on me. I still liked the style of that Jennifer Coat, just not the shoddy make.
So, I dug out my mom’s old sewing machine from the attic. Thing probably hadn’t been used in 20 years. It was a whole process, let me tell you. First, figuring out how to thread the darn thing. YouTube became my best friend. Lots of tangled threads, lots of “oops, that’s not right.” I started small, just trying to patch that lining properly on the Jennifer Coat. It wasn’t pretty, my stitches were all wobbly, but it held!
Then I got a bit more ambitious. I found a simple coat pattern online. Bought some decent fabric – nothing fancy, but way better than whatever that Jennifer Coat was made of. And I just… started. It took me weeks. Seriously, WEEKS. There were moments I wanted to throw the whole thing out the window. My living room looked like a fabric store exploded.
- Learned to thread a sewing machine (major win!).
- Practiced basic stitches on scraps.
- Attempted my first real garment – a simple coat.
- Many, many mistakes were made. And unpicked.
The Big Reveal (to Myself)
And you know what? The coat I made? It wasn’t perfect. Not by a long shot. One sleeve was a tiny bit longer than the other if you looked really close. The collar was a bit wonky. But it was WARM. It was SOLID. And I made it. Every time I wore it, I felt a sense of pride that no store-bought coat, especially not another “Jennifer Coat,” could ever give me.
It actually got me into sewing more. I’m still no expert, but I can mend things properly now, even alter stuff. And I’m way more careful about what I buy. I look at seams, I check fabric quality. That whole “Jennifer Coat” fiasco? It was annoying as heck at the time, but it ended up teaching me something pretty cool. I guess sometimes you gotta deal with some rubbish to find a new skill or appreciation for how things are made. I haven’t bought a “fast fashion” coat since. I’d rather save up for something well-made, or even better, try and make it myself if I’ve got the time. It’s way more satisfying.
