DIY Vest~ Work in Progress

Hello! It's been a while hasn't it? Partly because with summer here I've been fairly busy. Apparently 'vacation' is my cue to do lots of work around the house because my brain is no longer being crushed by math and the like. Also partly because my little brother managed to get our 'screen privileges' taken away from us for a fair amount of time. Granted, I spend a lot of time in front of my computer or ps3, but I never instigate these things! He does! *huffs*

Anyway, I have all of these patches that I've made lying around and I can never make up my mind as far as which item of clothing they should be attached to. I think it's because I've been holding out for a new leather jacket or blazer to customize, but since the thrift stores have been woefully empty I've begun to look at some of the pieces I already own. Considering how much I wear this black vest I'm sure you've all realized how much I love it. I was looking at it the other day and decided that if I were to customize it a little, a whole bunch of my go-to outfits would be a million times more fun. As a result, my vest is going to become very decorative, very soon.

You can't really tell, but there's a bat right in the middle of that coffin.
He's very cute, and I'm rather proud of that patch.

This is the layout I'm most fond of at the moment, though I'd consider changing the bat patch on the back with a Bauhaus one I recently made. I'm not really sure yet. Either way, I think I'll be hand sewing these on. I cannot for the life of me work the sewing machine and trust me, I've tried multiple times. I don't really know how to hand sew, but as long as my mom shows me the basics I'll be fine. Slow and steady wins the race, and I'm pretty handy as long as machines aren't involved. Technology is surprisingly not my area, unless it's my ps3 or perhaps something on the computer I'm interested in. Anyway, this way I can turn on the TV. Wish me luck!

On another note, I've been eying this coat from Fanplusfriend for a while, and it's appearance in one of my Red and Black Week posts has made my desire to buy it even greater. I'm going to work a bit next week at my parents' business in order to earn the money, but I'd also like to know what everyone thinks of Fanplusfriend. The coats in particular obviously. I've heard both good and bad things about the site, and I don't want to be unhappy with my purchase, especially since it's so expensive (And the shipping *shudders*). It's made of wool and I would probably fit very nicely into one of their non-custom sizes, but I can't seem to find many reviews on their coats. Help me out? Is it worth it? If not, then I'll probably end up purchasing a lovely skirt from Gloomth. But my heart is set on that coat.

The back-up plan~

It's already going to be difficult convincing my parents to let me buy the coat since Fanplusfriend is situated in China. They don't use child labor from what I can tell, but my family is very against buying things from places such as China as long as there's that chance. *sighs* Which makes it even more important that the coat is worth the money. Therefore, I defer to your judgement, lovely readers of mine ^^