Cycling rain shell

The cycling rain shell is done!

It looks pretty good. I did have some trouble, but overall I am pleased.

I posted here about making up the muslin, and near the bottom of this post about 'adventures in international patterns' (AKA the first pattern-fail!) But to reacap: I had a very hard time finding a suitable pattern for this project. I wanted to recreate for the resident entomologist the 24 year old cycling shell that was no longer doing its job.(See photos below!) I had purchased the fabric in the fall for a different project - for which it was unsuitable.  The fabric is a non-stretch polartec neo-shell in mineral blue purchased from Discovery Fabrics. 

The design criteria were: ralgan sleeves, non-stretch, minimal seaming (to keep out the rain), and rounded back hem (typical bike-design). I was directed to patronesymoldes, an Argentian company which specializes in patterns for commercial production (I did not really understand that at the time), and which ended up being for stretch fabrics, and containing ZERO instructions. ZERO. Not even a scale box on the digital pattern.

I found a basic pattern on a site for adaptive clothing, printed it up and made my many design changes. ŧhe site was called 'Fashion Freaks' and is sponsored by Independent Living institute. This was the only raglan sleeved jacket I could find which was not for stretch fabrics. And even then, there was not a lot out there!

If you want to try this at home, here is the link for the pattern I started with.  

I used the size large. I added 5/8 inch seam allowances, except for the front zipper, where I only added 3/8 inch, so that I could align the zipper tape with the edge. It is deliberately oversized in order to fit warm layers underneath.

First a word about the reflective elements:

At work we have a maker space, so I purchased some reflective vinyl, and used the Cricut machine to cut out and install reflective stripes on the sleeves and lower back. The entomologist nearly always wears a back-pack, so the stripes needed to be below the bag. I was worried about applying heat to this waterproof fabric. I was not sure what impact it would have on the fabric. However, Indigo-Sue (Pattern Review member) had done it on some stretch neo-shell and said it worked fine, Also I figured they do this on RTW waterproof garments, so I should be okay. (The garment will be tested in the rain tomorrow for the first time!). I also applied some lighning bolts to the collar. 

I applied reflective piping to the sleeve seams, and also to the cuff (but in the end these are hidden because he is folding over the cuff.)

DESIGN ELEMENTS

The design alements were nearly all copied from the RTW garment which was being replaced.

• added a zipper guard to outside of front zipper
• 
  added small chin gard to inner zipper
• added one snap on lower zipper guard
  
• added interfacing to cuffs and collar
• added pit zips under both arms
• added cuffs to sleeves
• made collar narrower in height than the pattern piece
• added hanging loop at upper back/collar
• added length to back 
• added a casing to lower hem, with drawwtring
• installed inner chest pocket, and secured it to jacket with a lanyard to keep it from flopping around when full

MATERIALS USED

• non-stretch neoshell from Discovery Fabrics
• reclaimed zipper from RTW running jacket which had otherwise disintegrated
• inner pocket, pit-zips and cord-locks from RTW rainshell which otherwise is ready to be discarded
• reflective piping (from Fabricland)
• elasticized draw cord 
• relfective vinyl
• one heavy-duty snap

CUTTING OUT THE GARMENT

Who would have thought that the challenges would start with the cutting out!

I did not want to use pins (you don't want extra holes in your waterproof fabric!). I purchased two new cutting mats (on sale from Princess Auto, of all places), which provided a much larger cutting surface, so I did not have to move the mat in the middle of cutting); I taped my pattern pieces to the fabric (and because I added the seam allowance at time of cutting, and not to the pattern pieces, this tape did not get in the way), and used washers as weights. I cut with a rotary cutter.

ORDER OF CONSTRUCTION

Good thing I made a muslin where I could try things out before making errors on the final garment!

1. basted piping to sleeves (pro-tip: in order to reduce bulk in seams where piping is installed, I opened up the piping, cut out the inner-cord, within the seam allowance. This allows the piping to extend into the seam allowance, for a nice finish, but reduces the extra bulk.)
2. applied reflective decals
3. sewed zipper guard pieces together
4. sewed sleeves to front and back
5. 
   pro-tip: after a lot of angst about how on earth I was going to sew the inner collar, inner cuff and inner casing hems neatly, I came up with this method: I sewed a stitching line at the fold line (this is a fairly frequent instruction in patterns), then I folded it up and sewed it in place. This stitching line would not be visible on the outside, and this would keep the piece folded under when stitching from the other side.
6. attached collar (my collar was too long, in the muslin AND the final, but when I walked the seams with the paper pattern I think it fit. Not sure what happened, but it was easy to trim down.)
7. added two buttonholes to casing (for the drawstring; grommets had been used in the inspiration garment.)
8. sewed the casing on (only the one seam at this point.)
9. basted inner pocket to front edge
10. installed zipper from the fold line on the casing to the foldline on the collar; folded the collar, right sides together, over the top of the zipper. (Don't forget to add the chinguard at this point.)
1. simple zipper installation: I simply lay the zipper right side to the right side of the garment, then folded the zipper out, and top-stitched.
2. Since the zipper was slightly longer than the front, I did have to mess around a bit to get the top of the zipper folded under correctly, and am quite suprised with how I did get this to work (I did have to unstitch the top once to get it to work nicely.
11. installed zipper guard; aligned raw edges about 3/8 inch from zipper teeth, sewed one seam; folded it over and top stitched. It was not necessary to trim.
12. intalled pit zips. I was repurposing the pit-zips from the inspiration garment. They are waterproof zips, and are a wide construction, probably too wide and stiff for my fabric! This was no fun! I debated how to install them, and went with a welt construction with exposed zip. 
1. I sewed together the side and sleeve seams, using a basting stitch where the zips would be installed.
2. I created a welt,  It was hard to get it lined up nicely, and one turned out better than the other.  When cutting out the welt I simply removed the basting stitches from the seam. Folded under the welt, and was left with a fairly nice looking rectangle.  
3. Because I was afraid to use pins, I had a hard time holding the zipper in place. (The wonder tape I had was not strong enough, and glue did not work for me). I ended up using strategically placed pins on the second one!)
4. Broke two needles on my machine before remembering I should use the Juki DX7 for this thicker construction.... worked very well!
13. top stitched collar to garment body
14. finished casing installation; top stitched casing to garment body; with twill guide for draw-string;
15. installed cuffs (with piping)
16. installed snap at lower edge of zipper guard 

CONCLUSION

This is a very satisfying make. Is it perfect? No, of course not! 

The fabric was challenging to use, and a bit scary! (I did get over the fear of heat and pins, though!). I had to design much of it myself, which added to the challenge! But in the end it looks good, and it probably DID cost less than a similar product RTW!

Here are photos of the inspiration garment! The wear and tear is somewhat evident...