Waver #2 - a cosy winter parka

I have been itching to write about this parka for some time. I ordered the fabric in September and, having already made a wearable toile of the pattern in the form of a summer mac (see my last Minerva post below), made swift progress making it up.

The fabric itself is a marvel. It is showerproof rather than full-on waterproof, but it has an outdoorsy kind of feel to it, and a soft drape with a good weight behind it - ideal for a winter coat. Inside it has a silvery spaceman-style backing. Amazingly you can press the fabric on the right side with a fairly hot iron - and it takes the press really well - great for the crisp pockets on Papercut Pattern’s Waver. Do be warned, though: do not, under any circumstances, press on the wrong side - the silvery coating will shrivel up and you will curse the heavens.

I’ve been quite taken with some of the Swedish raincoats on the market, so the Waver was the perfect choice for this long-awaited winter coat. I modified it slightly, by adding an inch to the hood at the front edge, and also a bit extra at the front so it can be buttoned up around the face for added warmth. I also made cuffs from ribbing to keep my wrists toasty (something I liked about my old coat) - simply attached to an extra tube of lining and then sewn inside the sleeve at the appropriate interval. This added some much-needed length to the sleeve, too, as when cutting out I forgot to add the extra inch I’d marked on the pattern from my first toile. Does anybody else do this?!

To take the coat to the toasty next level, I wanted to interline it. But because I wasn’t sure if interlining would work with the pattern, I didn’t want to drop a load on the experiment. Luckily I had an old double bed mattress protector stuffed in a Closet Case pouf (of course I did). Out it came, and into the Waver it went. And, I have to say: what a marvel. This is such a warm and cosy coat, and given the outer and the lining (I used remnants from the last Waver, adding a little extra water resistance to boot) are both polyester, there seemed little point in investing in anything more wondrous and breathable.

As it happens - and I’ve road tested this coat a lot - breathability isn’t the issue I thought it might be: it’s warm, cosy, cuddly and keeps me dry. What more to love?

As soon as it resembled something suitable to leave the house, the parka was on and out the door. The autumn here was fairly mild, so it didn’t seem to matter much that I hadn’t yet added buttons or snaps, and as the days drew on I became increasingly indecisive - first buying some simple black Kam snaps, and then opting for the sturdier Prym raincoat version. Once the snaps were decided, I realised I’d developed far too significant a bond with this coat to risk messing up the fastenings, so the days of unfinished business stretched on and on…

The other thing, and I may have mentioned this before, but I have some sort of static problem: everything that isn’t anti-static acetate rides up my legs when I walk. And despite its roominess, this coat was no exception. So I also knew that before I could finish the coat with snaps, I needed to address the static. Off-putting or what?!

Eventually, the season turned, and it became chilly enough for me to feel duty bound to make closures (and get some closure on this make! ha ha!). So I unpicked the lining from just above the waist to the hem and cut new pieces of acetate - sewing them over the existing lining for a little extra warmth. Having procrastinated for months, this was in fact a fairly simple exercise - and I love the effect too, it looks like some pricey winter parkas I’ve admired in the past. And once that was done the snaps took mere minutes…

And so, now I have my finished coat: I love it to bits and I suspect I will literally love it to bits!

Thanks for reading

Ruth

Please note: this PR fabric was given to me in return for this blog post. All other items mentioned I purchased myself.