And now for something completely different….
A few weeks ago I went off to Birmingham to a sewing show with my Step-Mum. We spent the day mooching about a huge space looking at lots of pretty fabrics and patterns, when this gorgeous laminated cotton caught my eye.
That would be perfect for a kid’s raincoat, thought I, and I had just the loveliest little boy in mind whose birthday was fast approaching.
So I bought my yardage and took it home and maybe was slightly concerned I had bitten off more than I could chew.
I couldn’t find a decent pattern anywhere so I searched the net and came across this tutorial from Riley Blake Designs. I sourced a hoodie for the template and bought my notions.
I decided to use some of my leftover cotton from different projects to make the lining, which turned out to be a bit of a mish-mash of designs, but I assumed he would look like quite the dandy in his super bright lined coat.
I instantly made a mistake by forgetting to put the seam allowance on my first two pieces, but luckily enough I did have enough extra to make that mistake, only I had to forgo the pockets in the end.
Making it wasn’t too tricky, after I remembered that:
- I had to pin in the seam allowance (this is mean to me waterproof after all so not extra pesky holes).
- Sewing takes a little more time due to the pressure of not being able to get the seam ripper out and start again.
But I took a deep breath, and started sewing.
After I had sewing the lining in, I washed the coat on a cold wash and hung it out on a hanger to dry and leave it crease free.
When it came to putting on the closure loops for the buttons I used clamps to hold them in place rather than pins
All left to do was to wrap the coat and hand it over to N. It was a little big for him but he very much seemed to like it, if all the talk of “chicken” and “cluck, cluck” were anything to go by.
It was a little bit big….but hey, kids grow, right?
Stacey Stitch 