Thank you all for your helpful comments and advice on my last raincoat post. There were some fab suggestions, but in the end it was a toss up between vintage McCall's 8006 and Simplicity 5928. The Simplicity pattern won, for the simple reason that Amy of Sylkotwist had a copy of the pattern and very generously let me borrow it - thank you! I did love McCall's 8006 but just couldn't track it down. Simplicity 5928 is a princess seamed pattern from the Look Slimmer range (hoorah!) and has some lovely details such as top stitching and concealed side pockets.
Amy's copy of the pattern is a size 14.5, with a 37 bust, I would normally go for a vintage 36 bust, but as the coat has very fitted princess seams, I'm quite glad of the additional room. So far, I've pinned the pattern pieces together and fitted them to Angie. The fit seems pretty good and I'm tempted to just steam ahead without a muslin. The only anomaly I found with the pattern is the length. Simplicity half size patterns are designed for petite women, or to be more accurate, specially sized for Misses and Women about 5'2" to 5'3". This seemed like a dream come true for me as I'm exactly that height and almost always have to shorten patterns to fit. It wasn't quite that simple though. The envelope illustration clearly shows the length of the coat skimming the knee, yet on Angie, (who's more or less my height), it's virtually ankle length. I tried to make allowances for the fact that the pattern is from 1973, and as we know, the entire population walked round in towering platforms like this.
But the girls on the envelope are all wearing sensible court shoes, which sort of blows my Elton John massive boot theory out of the water. It's very odd, and even taking the generous 2" inch hem into account, I'll still have to shorten the pieces by about 4 inches. Harrumph.
For fabric, I'm using a waterproof coated microfibre fabric in navy from here. This is the same type of fabric that Winnie used for her Robson Trench and I'll be utilising all the sewing tips she included on her post. They were primarily to use weights to cut the fabric out (which I do anyway), use hairgrips for seams and DON'T USE PINS! This is all new to me so I'm looking forward to the challenge.
The pattern comes with lining pieces so I think I'll add a lining too. I have two in my stash that would be a good match for navy. The same teal polka dot lining I used for my Abbey Coat...
...or this lovely flash of gorgeousness. Any preferences?
I'm hoping to get started on this pretty soon as the rain continues to lash down most days. I'll keep you posted.... x
