The Wearable Umbrella

Had to call it something!  And here it is - modeled by yours truly.  (I figured out the timer button on the camera!  And the TV makes a great stand-in for a tripod.)  And before I go any further I must thank Sue of the amazing photographs for her help.  Sue was kind enough to e-mail me some pointers on how to improve my picture taking.  I'm working on it!

Well, may-be I could have fussed a bit more with the hood, but 10 seconds is not a whole lot of time to get yourself into position if you still have to deal with part of the garment.  The vest, obviously, is a little large on me, but it isn't for me.  Come to think of it - it may not be such a bad idea for rain wear.  It covers your hair completely, so: Option 1.  No worries about getting your styled hair wet and messy; Option 2.  You can hide the non-styled hair, and no-one will be the wiser.  The face is completely hidden.  Again - not so bad:  Option 1.  All the efforts of beautification will not get washed off on your way to wherever during a rainstorm; Option 2.  No need to wear make-up, because nobody can see your face anyway.  Mind you, you also can't see where you're going, but that's another story.   OK, so may-be we won't be starting any new fads here with this style, but I did my best to produce what my son wanted.  Time to pack it up and send it off.  Hope he's happy with the results.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I used the KwikSew shirt pattern.  The hood that's included was nowhere large enough, so I went looking in my drawers of patterns.  It turns out that I have a Folkwear Pattern for the Kinsale cloak.  It has a huge hood.

I cut out the paper pattern, held it up to my head and decided that it would do.  The hood is self lined.  I attached the two layers on the inside at the seam allowance of the back seam - only a few inches from the point down, but that keeps the layers from shifting around.  I didn't gather anything as per instructions.  I did have to make 2 pleats in the hood at the back of the neck, so that it would fit into the neck opening of the shirt pattern. 

 

I added a zipper at centre front.  Kangaroo pockets as per View B (I believe), and the slits are also part of the original pattern.   We have a Burberryesque plaid lining (yes, I matched at the side seams).   

I finished off the armholes with bias strips.  The outer fabric is some plasticky polyester, so the ripples at the topstitching were inevitable.  I had to keep pinning to an absolute minimum, because the pinholes did not disappear.  Quite a problem for lining up the pockets, so I resorted to my least favourite method of taping (yes, good old Wonder Tape, which, miraculously, I found in a drawer).  I suppose I could have added all sorts of tabs and snaps and whatnot, but I really just wanted to get this done as quickly as possible, and in my opinion, all those do-dads only make for more places that something can rip.  One major problem in sewing such "creations" is having to really think the whole time.  There were a number of instances where I had to stop and think through the order in which I should be doing certain sewing, because ripping out was not an option!