monday

Ok, here's where the whole raincoat thing becomes a saga. Monday just gone I decided to try again with a tried and tested pattern - the hooded beach coat from The Golden Hands Book of Sixty Things to Sew for Children that I had previously used to make James.

I have long pondered the idea of recycling clothing not just for the fabric, but also to take advantage of he existing structural features - the hems, buttonholes, pockets. Hence this purchase from Value Village, a tomato red Old Navy raincoat, 100% cotton but certainly treated with something as water just beads on it.

So anyway, on Monday - thud. That was me coming down to Earth. All those pre-existing structural features - the binding, the facings, the interfacing, the pockets - all of it actually makes cutting out the pattern pieces and sewing them together very difficult. Thankfully I had bought jeans/denim sewing machine needles to cope with the pvc because that treated cotton was tough (see, silver lining to the first raincoat debacle - new type of sewing machine needle, new thread colour, an eyelet kit and a snap fastener kit).

And again, disappointment - I swear the armscye is too shallow, again. I'm not sure because I can't actually get baby bear to try the bloody thing on. She seems to have developed an instant aversion to it. More lessons learned though - what works in a knit fabric may not necessarily work in cotton canvas, that I must take my time sewing and must plan more carefully (yep, there are muck-ups because I was just in such a rush). I also altered the pattern a bit, adding a details from the previous raincoat pattern which was a facing around the hood through which you could thread a cord - hence the need for an eyelet making kit which I used very successfully.

I am going to finish this one off, possibly by appliquéing some cut-outs from the leftover tablecloth pvc as decoration, adding the cord to the hood and a zip to the front. Which means I have to go shopping for sewing notions. More silver lining.