Raincoat cause rain

Do raincoats cause rain?

The wool jacket didn't stop winter.

Yes, they are in the sewing cave. Yes, I have family.

But it's never going to stop raining in Seattle.

Well, I surely hope not*.

I made this jacket, not using a pattern, years and years ago. I've worn it to bits, and it's failing at the seams. The hood never stays up. One breeze, even one step forward and it's down. I've been meaning to alter it, but then I noticed the seam damage.

The Riri rainbow zipper has held up, and I'm going to reuse it.

The reflective tape on the seams was a good idea. Even if it does slice me at the chest, it's VERY reflective, and between the front, the back and that little slash on the side pocket entry facing, it catches the smallest light and makes me visible enough even with the all black matte material.

I am working it into the next coat.

However, I'm done with black coats.

I've been coat watching in Seattle, and it's like we're all going to a funeral all winter long.

I just went to a funeral, and one of the things someone pointed out about the late Marian was that she NEVER wore a black coat. As proof, her red leather jacket was a part of the family photo table. She was stylin' she was.

I've been grabbing pix on Pinterest, 

picking up a couple patterns, taped this one together 

I took the body pieces and made them into one pattern piece to eliminate leaky seams

sorry this is hard to see, but you get the idea

And I noticed I have a style theme going here

Yes, you have seen this coat before. This particular version is from 1985.

I have worn the life out of this coat. It's the parka version. A sample my stepmother loaned me over almost twenty five years ago. I did add interior pockets.

This wasn't cheap. It is gorgeous. I am going to make one out of velvet. 
McVoguerick - you should rerelease this design!

Bathrobe would be good raincoat with the right fabric

So I have this amazing nylon fabric from Pacific Fabrics, and it's going to turn  into the new raincoat. I need to make a second muslin first.

Preliminary layout unsatisfactory, but a good photo of the fabric. You'll see it later

And before I cut into Precious, I have to remind myself that I keep looking at the same shape because I have been wearing the same shape over and over again.

I am cutting out the Green Pepper Oregon hood for this coat. I've tried a lot of hood patterns and they know their stuff. 

This was the very first thing I ever pinned on pinterest. Pretty sure.

 Because there is nothing more annoying than turning your head and seeing the inside of your hood.

*to be honest with you, it doesn't rain all the time. It's cloudy much of the time. It has rained a lot more this winter, all up and down the left coast. And it's been heavier rain; usually we just get sprinkles. It's poured several times; it flooded out the sewage treatment plant, which is just now operating with all of it's functions repaired.

So yeah, I need the hood now.

So cutting has begun and so has some crying

Sometimes the fastest way to get the photo off my phone is by posting it to Instagram....

The sleeve runs off the edge. I will have to piece it. Damn!

115 Swatches Knocking at the Door (that's FedEx actually) - Contrado continued

Remember, you click on the photos and they get huge

Contrado's fabric choices page is pretty good

They give you good selection filters/controls on the left, and the fabric pages give you the critical information you'd need: weight, content, suggested uses. The max. print is the printable width.

So I ordered the swatch set. Three days by FedEx, so that 7.50$ shipping did the job.

A two inch thick stack of entertainment.

Delivered by FedEx. I had to sign for it.

See what I do for you? 
Okay, I did it for me. But I thought about you, honest!

Lots of them

It took me a couple of days to open it up; I was on my way out the door when they arrived, and I had a son to visit at college for the weekend.
And then it was just daunting. I was afraid I'd lose some of them.

I assumed that everything that wasn't explicitly labeled a particular fiber was...polyester. And that's pretty much true.
The full fiber contents are listed on their pages online.

Sorting them out

Upholstery or home decor weight polys

About half of the fabrics are housewares material.  Lots of upholstery weight fabrics, different textures and finishes, all poly. Potential bags or decor stuff. Blackout is rollerblind weight.

(I do not make rollerblinds. The roman shades damn near killed me, and once a year I have to mend them.)

Two different weights of felt, poly.

Oilcloth - two kinds

Three stretch laces

Lots of poly.

Clothing weight polys. The Crush velour is fun.

I'm not going to cover all the fabrics, as I'm really only interested in fabrics I can't get from Spoonflower or My Fabric Designs. I've invested a lot of time in Spoonflower, and shipping gets spendy internationally very quickly.  I have lost stuff by going the ground shipping route (in a package marked for me, there is a pair of deeply cool creepers from Romania, out there somewhere).

Contrado's yardage is spendy already. Spoony is 32$ a yard for eco canvas  and silky faille is $24. 54" wide, thank you. And that's before my designer discount.
So this has to be something I can't get anywhere else.
(we'll get to the 'how much' shortly)

Named fiber clothing weight

You get a good idea how the fiber blend affects the printing by using the same print for similar fibers (plant based versus petroleum. See how I got rayon in that group?).

You can see the variation in color between the denim and the viscose. Not as bright but well dyed. The cashmere is also a little faded in comparison to the cotton.

Poly outerwear plus that muslin. I've got a scarf idea that would work on.

stretching things

The Florence mesh is a lightweight mesh, super stretchy but translucent.  The quilted jersey on the bottom left would be a nice cardigan. If I wore cardigans. And the Plush Velvet is nice, but it's really a denser Minky and the image does distort when you brush it the wrong way. Like a napped print will.

There's a scuba and a neoprene in there, somewhere.

The ones that I was interested in were outerwear fabrics: Ripstop

Breathable waterproof would be a great rainjacket fabric.

Softshell jacket would make a good moto.
The super cool soft poly 'muslin' on the lower left would make faboo scarves; it's similar to the poly scarves in Anthropologie

if you click on this, it becomes a mammoth and easier read image

I did like the cashmere. It was the best of the swatches just for feel and opacity. 

$149 a yard

But it's cashmere. And it's nice and soft and squishy and would make the best dress ever. It would also make a wonderful scarf - it is 55" printable width. 

The viscose twill, at about $51.21yd, seems a little faded to start (and these swatches are too small to wash properly and keep a control sample). But I love rayon. I really do. It's my magical place, and if this dye sublimation process does the thing they say it will, it should miss that crocking/fading that has troubled Spoonflower.

And what do I mean by that?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dye-sublimation_printer

dye sublimation printing; will not crack fade or peel. (high temp version)

You do NOT have to do full yards; you can customize the size by width or length. This seems odd to me; fabric comes off the roll full width. What about the extra width?  The scheduling of printing that would combine different widths just boggles the mind.
But I digress. That's not your problem.

At the end of it, I'd probably go with the breathable waterproof. Nice weight and drape, 2 yards at full width would be $108.26.
(sound of defibrillator)
How much do I love the idea of using my own fabric design?
How much do I hate the outerwear fabrics available to me?

Because I bought the swatches, I have a coupon for $25 off a purchase of over $55. Which puts a dent in it.

And I have this nylon:

And it's paid for. Thanks Pacific Fabrics.

I dunno. Maybe I get a yard of something. They are out of the cashmere.....and the poly muslin is the same price as the viscose...which seems weird.
And then there's shipping. 

I'll get back to you on this one.