Waterproof Coat

[Acorn]

Mine hasn't arrived yet.     In fact I haven't even had the dispatch notification - I'm hoping they just haven't sent the email, rather than not having dispatched the fabric a week after I ordered it!  It's usually about a week between order and receipt from them.

[Bodgeitandscarper]

As in more drapey?  Sounds very interesting... and the denim one will be back in stock soon?  Even more interesting 

[Maximum]

Nikwax used to do a spray to add waterproofing to fleece, not sure if it's still available or how long it lasts.
Shoulders would be vulnerable however they are stitched but fleece does tend to wick water away from body heat so you might be OK

[Acorn]

Hmph.  Just had the dispatch notification, so it'll be about three days before it arrives.  myfabrics.co.uk are usually quicker than this, and mine was in stock the day I ordered it, and for a few days afterwards.  I guess they must just be busy.

I think I will try the seam sealer stuff - this - it is intended to be used on the inside of seams, and I think there is a lot less chance of it going through stitching in this fabric than there would be with most waterproof fabrics.  I will, of course, test it on a test seam before allowing it anywhere near my coat!

[Acorn]

I had to add that I've just found this seam sealer...

... what do you think it is that makes it unisex?!?   

[Ploshkin]

Is it the sealer that is unisex or does it mean that someone who doesn't have dangly bits is able to use it?

[Bogwoppit]

Nikwax used to do a spray to add waterproofing to fleece, not sure if it's still available or how long it lasts.

They still do. Spray on and a wash in version.  I have huge bottles of both as they were on offer at half price and use them regularly.  Got a damp shoulder yesterday so my goretex jacket needs attention (rucksack wears it off).  I'm also putting my youngest new winter coat though with the wash in - it was bought as is bright orange (hid favourite could and means I can spot him in the school playground) but only labelled showerproof.  It will be Lancastrian Full on Downpour proof before I've finished with it.

[Bodgeitandscarper]

I would suggest also get some of the Nickwax Techwash - they say that ordinary washing detergents destroy any waterproofness.

[Bodgeitandscarper]

Is it the sealer that is unisex or does it mean that someone who doesn't have dangly bits is able to use it?

My bits dangle these days - oh, no, you meant down there, not up here 

[Acorn]

Is it the sealer that is unisex or does it mean that someone who doesn't have dangly bits is able to use it?

My bits dangle these days - oh, no, you meant down there, not up here 

roflol   

My fabric has arrived!  They posted it a day before they emailed me, and sent it the whole way with the courier rather than handing it over to the Royal Mail when it arrived it the UK.

I'm very pleased with it.  It feels very wearable, but I think it has enough substance to hold the shape of the cocoon coat I'm going to make so that it doesn't just look baggy and ill-fitting.

[Acorn]

I've printed, taped and cut out the pattern, and have been thinking about it as I go.  There are inseam pockets, and I think that it would be nice to have the fleece side of the fabric as the inside of the pockets, which is the opposite way around to that pattern.  I can't see any reason not to do that.

More complicated is the neckband.  It's folded (see picture below), so the outside of the fabric shows on the outside and the inside.  The piece is shaped like an elongated surfboard with two pointy ends, and is symmetrical.  If I were to make it in two unequal pieces so that the inside was fleecy and the outside, turning over onto the inside, was the waterproof side, do you think I would have problems?

[Ploshkin]

I can't see a problem with doing that Acorn.

[Bodgeitandscarper]

Got my denim softshell sample from my fabrics this morning - disappointingly it's not stretchy.  I thought softshell was always stretchy?

How's your jacket going Acorn?

[Acorn]

My softshell isn't really stretchy, but it has a bit of give - more than the denim sample, but not enough to really call it stretchy.

I have finished my coat!  I will try to take a photo later, but I'm a very bad selfie taker and I find that clothes on hangers always look shapeless.  I am very pleased with it.  The fabric is lovely to sew, but not on my new sewing machine (the embroidery and sewing machine) which has all sorts of clever features but did not get on with it at all.  I bought a pack of microtex needles, as recommended by the fabric seller, and tried the setting for heavy stretch and then heavy woven - no difference at all, both terrible.  I was tearing my hair out doing the top stitching with teeny little stitches (even when I changed the stitch length right up to 6mm), missed stitches, odd loops, two broken needles and many, many broken threads.  Almost every seam is top stitched. 

Eventually I threw my hands up and took it to my old machine.  I used the multi-purpose needle that was already in, set the stitch length to 4mm, and didn't change anything else at all.  It zoomed around it with perfect stitches as though it was the easiest thing it had ever done.

Because the fabric is squidgy and all the seams are top stitched I don't think there will be any problem with water seepage through them - why is it that the thing you worry about in advance almost always turns out not to be a problem!??

[Acorn]

A photo! It's actually cocoon shaped rather than the shape it appears here, but without a body to hold it out it is falling in at the sides.

I like the Style Arc pattern very much, and I am sure I will be using it again.