66: Finishing the UFOs - waterproof jacket

I started this jacket for my partner back in June with the idea we were going to take it on a day trip at the start of July. When it came to our day trip it was very hot and there was no sign of rain which was good because I never finished making this.

The fabric is a ripstop waterproof, probably nylon. I do not remember to be honest. I bought it from Ebay so was relatively cheap.  I think around £5 but cannot remember exactly. I have loads more left for a second jacket.

The jacket is based loosely on a hoody pattern:

 The lining is navy mesh - I will add a picture later since forgot to take but its just a nylon mesh fabric meant for sportswear linings.

I added pocket flaps to keep the rain out and closures with blue velcro:

 The velcro is from Amazon and was £7 for 25m.
I found it very easy to sew the fluffy side but really difficult to sew the gripper bit. The needle just refused to sew at all and my machine said it was too thick fabric so I swapped to a leather needle. It sewed better with this but still kept missing stitches. I eventually got it all sewed on but it was very difficult and frustrating.

 I added a piece under and over the zip to hopefully keep the rain out and added extra fabric around the hood edge to hold a cord.

This made the hood large which apparently is like "Assassins Creed - Almost" according to my other half! He likes it anyway.

 The front has velcro at the bottom which I have to say looks far from professional here:

This is the main problem area because I did ask him if he wanted the pull cord to have eyelets (buttonholes) but he said no so when it is finally finished the cord now needs stoppers since the two ends do not meet up when the bottom velcro is closed. One end of the cord is on the inside and the other outside. Hopefuly that makes sense.

I made a mistake with one pocket shown here. I had to decide which would show least the top or bottom so I have a pucker at the top where it does not quite fit. I sewed the pocket flap ends down so hopefully they keep the water out and my partner's phone, keys etc safe with the velcro fastenings. He has a habit of losing phones in the sea. I know I never take my phone when paddling but he does!

I decided better to live with this pucker rather than unpick since if I unpick there will then be lots of tiny holes and it IS meant to be waterproof. Other half does not seem to even see it despite my pointing it out to him!

To make the sleeves long enough I added wristbands with an adjuster bit based on a  RTW jacket I already own.

 The wrists are closed with velcro since my other half did not want elastic wrists.

This jacket took me well outside my comfort zone and is I think, if I am honest, well above my skill level hence the problem areas such as the pocket flap being puckered. I needed to be quite inventive since the pattern originally has no lining and is meant to be a reasonably fitted hoody rather than a waterproof jacket. I had to invent extra bits to try and make the water remain outside in a downpour. Having said that though it is a good prototype and in interesting experiment. I also had no actual pattern pieces for bits like the front flaps that go under and over the zips, the cuffs, pocket flaps and hood cord channel or the hem band. All sound reasonably easy to add but when I came to do this getting them perfect was very difficult.

 We have yet to see how successful this jacket will be. I will let you know once its been seriously tested. We are off to Cornwall for a few days soon so that should show if it is actually waterproof. I suspect everywhere I had to restitch due to skipped stitches it is going to leak. We also never glued any of the seams so in a heavy downpour I think the water will just come in. We will see. If it turns out reasonably successful I will make a second jacket What I really need is some kind of, preferably mens, waterproof activity jacket but I have not been able to find a pattern anywhere so if anyone reading this knows of one please comment or email me and let me know.

Here are some pictures of close-ups of the lining and zip etc :

Thanks for visiting and see you again soon,

Bracken