TL; DR – Not a beginner pattern, but I figured it out.

I got caught in the rain the other day; the husband appropriated the compact umbrella I carried with me in my purse, so I ended up having to take an Uber rather than get absolutely soaked in the rain. It was time – I had to make a raincoat.

I had this shower curtain from Ikea’s collaboration with Marimekko, and I decided to try the Cory raincoat from Mood Fabrics. I had just barely enough fabric, but I made it work. What I couldn’t figure out was how to add the facing properly. I think what it wanted me to do was sandwich the hood and then fold over the edge along the zipper inside (upon re-reading it for the 47th time, yes, that is what it wanted me to do). Instead (because I never get this right) I accidentally did a rolled hem on the wrong side of the facing (because of course I did) and then decided to top-stitch all the way around the zipper and hood. I also had to shorten the sleeves because it’s a “unisex” garment, but that’s not a huge issue.

Also, the pattern pieces say that you can make this a lined coat, but the instructions are only for an unlined version. I’d imagine it would end up following similar directions as the Bryson I just made, but again, if you’ve never sewn a lined jacket before, this isn’t the place to start since it offers zero guidance.

Anyway, this is probably the cleanest-finished garment I’ve ever made. Everything is done with French seams, a rolled hem, or hidden with the top-stitching. And it needed it because that nylon fabric frays like crazy. I’m going to be finding fine nylon threads all over my sewing space for months. It’s like the glitter of thread.

I’m really proud of how it turned out. It screams spring, but our falls tend to be rainy, so I don’t care!