I thought I would do an update post about my raincoat project. While I had hoped to be almost finished by now, a change in patterns did push the project back a bit. However, I thought it might be good to show a bit of my progress so far so you can see the innards of the coat.
First, I added about two inches in width to the back pattern piece below the waist. I did a slash and spread instead of getting out the pattern and re-tracing and grading it up. From the muslin it was pretty easy to see that the lower back needed more width so that the side seam would lay straight:
 |
| Muslin – you can see the seam being pulled back |
 |
| Adjusted side seam – much better! |
Also, I finally got my Etsy-purchased vintage buckles in the mail! Scale is an odd thing in photos, so I ended up buying a few lots of buckles from the same seller. Most of them are too small (at least for this project), but I did find a green one that was just the right size. It came with a prong which I removed with some pliers (no holes in my fabric belt). Part of me feel bad for “destroying” the vintage buckle. The rest of me is happy that I have a belt. The latter part is winning.
 |
| Coat with my vintage belt buckle! |
Based on the buckles that came, I decided on the smaller circle pattern buttons:
 |
| Green and blue – matching the fabric and the buckle! |
I already made a boo-boo and I put the sleeve tab on the wrong side of the sleeve, but since this fabric doesn’t take well to punctures and it isn’t a make or break sort of a problem, I decided to just leave it.
This project would be moving a bit faster, but I have to spend forever and a day ironing on my seam-sealing tape. Not that it takes a long time to seal, I just have lots of seams to deal with. It makes the seams look a bit more puckery than I would like (the seams look great without it, the teflon presser foot is great on this rubberized material), but water-proofing is slightly more important than having it look perfect.
 |
| Inside view of the tape sealed seams |
I have finished the main shell of the coat and the lining so far, so now I have to work on the fiddly bits like the collar and such. Something to do next weekend…
 |
| The lining – it is not exciting, but I thought this fabric might do well if it gets wet. |
Not to jinx anything, but so far I like the way it is going. Although I am sort of concerned that the intense blue color might make me look like a Smurf or a CSI lab tech. I mean, I love the color, but, well, there is a lot of blue.
So you can see, I am sewing, but I won’t have a project to show for a while at least. Usually I am happy while I am working on a project, but I want to get this one done so I can wear it, so the sewing is seeming a bit tedious at the moment. Well, maybe not the sewing, but the seam sealing is for sure. Anyway, can’t wait to get more finished so I can show it off. More to come later!
Doctor T Designs 
Holy cow! I am totally digging the blue and green color combo! I bet you'll feel very smurfy (in a great way) wearing it on grey days!
LikeLike
Yes, I can walk about singing the Smurf song (la la lalalala la la la la) in the rain!
LikeLike