geez Louise!!...my options are endless !!  I have amassed  this.... shall we say  'collection' of assorted  fabrics from every imaginable venue......yard sales, second (and third ) hand shops, anonymous donors (and some actually willing to admit  they've had these clothes since 19-- something or other)  ...the challenge here is to actually find that specific piece my brain has pictured (from God only knows what) and try to piece it together for Santas glorious, one of a kind, original coat .....hhhhhmmmmm......where oh where.....well, to start, I look up lots and lots (and then even more) info that I can find on the various Regions Artists' interpretations of the Era that I've got swimming (most likely the 'back stroke')  around somewhere inside my head...from this info I try to determine what types of weave would have been used in clothing and how they would have used trims and buttons or pockets.....if he's going to be a country man or woodsy or Victorian......sooooooooo many options.....when I decide the fabric....then the trim (!) ... should I use fur or fringe or some kind of ribbon ???.......you can see this process alone could take me days...depending on my frame of mind ( I know~ scary right) I have actually ( sheesh...took me 3 tries to spell that stupid little word...."Fingers Unite") put a whole coat together and then the next day just rip it all apart just to start all over.......it has to feel  just right or the rest of him just won't fit together. Most often I've got this one idea and by the time my design is shaping up it has totally changed from what I had thought of and morphed into a completely different style
( and that alone tickles me to pieces.....'i ' after 'e' but not before 'c'....??)
FYI: Santa is wearing his 'Union Suit' under all of this ~ some fabrics tend to get a bit itchy you know
I have also been known (amoungst other things that shall remain nameless...) to find one small accessory and build his entire wardrobe design around it....that's alot of fun !
On my numerous ( I don't do math) trips to these great thrift and second hand shops you can find me just touching
 (see !!) all the ( and I mean ALL)  clothing to see if will work for one thing or the other...... I've had some very sweet sales women comment ; " oh, boy now you've got your winter coats all ready for the winter ",  only to tell them sheepishly that I am planning on ripping these perfectly good specimens of the fashion world  to bits and pieces (!) and I can never really tell what they are thinking as I walk out the door......
The next challenge is to get my hesitant sewing machine to cooperate with my plans ........I really do believe there is some  little gremlin in there sabotaging  my many attempts and then bragging about it to his pals over a beer......really...AND  swearing at it really does help....anyway......as you can see I have this love/hate thing going on with my machine.....maybe it could just be that my fingers don't listen to one thing my brain is doing....( I know ~ but I can't afford a therapist)  I cut up these bits and pieces and make them into this tiny coat based on my years and years of fashion design (hehe ...I have sewn my own clothes since I was a kid thinking I would be famous one day) I need to have several 'fittings' for him so it all lays just so.....I always hand sew everything and only glue stuff when it is just gets impossible to get a needle in some places. It is really important to me that my designs look 'natural' and 'life like' and I take great pride when I achieve that for each Santa !

http://www.etsy.com/shop/NonnasSantas  = this is my shop