Monday, January 20, 2014

Polartec Lined Raincoat

Until about a week ago it's been unusually cold on the central coast of California.  I kept going into my (very stuffed) coat closet to find something warm enough to wear.  There was not one piece I felt like putting on.  All of my choices were lightweight for our usually mild winters.

Last week I finally got time to begin my new winter coat.  Problem was, we were having a heat wave!
And my little studio isn't insulated so the indoor thermometer read 80 degrees!

But I forged on, sweating all the way.

My fitting guru, Jenny, helped me shorten Marcy Tilton's V8934.  I used a Seattle Fabrics DWR Supplex 100% nylon in a grey/black.   I lined it with a very thin Polartec in black.


It doesn't look like much in the photo but I'm going to get a lot of wear out of this coat.  This fabric will travel well.

I vacillated on which front band closure I would use.  View A showed buttons and view B was a fly front with hidden buttons.  I went with View A.  I worried about making buttonholes on that rainwear...in fact, all night one night...stupid, right?

So I went with the idea on the pattern, using little patches of fabric to highlight the buttons.  I used a stretch black and white denim.  Worked great.  It gave a little detail that the coat needed.






I waited on which fabric to use for the collar lining.  I figured I wouldn't want the Supplex against my neck but wasn't sure how the black would look on the inside of the collar.

When I got to that point I auditioned both fabrics and the black looked fine.  So glad.  Feels wonderful.

There's not much to the back of this garment but I had the photo so why not show it?  Those two little white spots are just the sun peaking in from the window, not a design element!

I like this pattern very much.  I'll make it again.  The coat took longer to make than I had figured.  About 20 hours total.  But I'm a slow sewer and I took my time since I hadn't lined a garment in 38 years!  Most of my clothes are knits.

I don't usually count the hours I have into a garment...not the point, right?  But I was curious about this one and so I counted.  20 hours well spent listening to Donna Tartt's The Goldfinch.  They both took around the same amount of time!