Rain, Rain, Don't Go Away, Because I Have This Awesome DIY Raincoat!

Heeey Ya'll it's really raining outside so this post if perfect for a DIY Raincoat! I teamed up with @TabithaSewer  for this adventure in creating our own DIY raincoats. I have so many rain puns on my mind right now it's ridiculous but I will start with my theme music for this post. In the words of New Edition "Sunny days, everybody loves them. Tell me baby can you stand the rain? Storms will come, This we know for sure (This we know for sure) Can you stand the rain?? Whoaaa, Whoaaa, Can you stand the rainnnnn?

OK so let's get started. When I thought about raincoats I knew I wanted to use vinyl for this project but the task was to figure out what gauge to use. Ha! did you even know that they were sold by weight, known as gauges? Well they are and I knew this because I have sewn purses with vinyl.

[#1: 16g/ #2:top left 4 g/#3 top right thin vinyl/ #4 bottom left 20 g  #5 Bottom right #40 g]

I had some vinyl on hand but they were a  super thin weight probably between 6-8 gauges and I had a wrinkled piece of a 12 gauge vinyl. I went to the store to look at a heavier weight and I ended up purchasing a 16 gauge, which I knew was to stiff for the raincoat but I got it anyway. [That's my disclaimer to say I knew what i was doing going into this project]

I decided I was going to work through the 16 gauge even if it was not going to be wearable I wanted to see if I could sew this thickness or should I say stiffness. I have to tell ya this was a crazy ideal but I was down to my deadline and too vested in the 16 gauge so I pushed through it none the less.  I'm just going to tell you that this will be a piece in my sewing room that I can laugh about on a dreary day, that's for sure and it will be perfect to wear while doing the robot dance.

Notes from this project: 

--If you choose to use vinyl remember once you start stitching you are committed to that stitch however it may look because there are no do-overs on vinyl!  
--I used my Schmetz leather needles size 110/18 because this was a heavy vinyl. 
--I put on my walking foot but it was not necessary for the project, it fed through my machine perfectly without the walking foot.  
--Remember to extend your stitch length when using vinyl. 
--I tried to use tape that I had on hand to hold the pockets on but that was a mistake because it left a film on the vinyl. I should have tried my painters tape for the pockets.  
--I also tried to use clips to hold my pieces together for sewing and that was a bust because the vinyl was so stiff and maneuvering it while sewing was awkward. If you are using a vinyl suitable for this type of project you should be able to utilize clips.
--You want to use 12 gauge vinyl or under for this project.

The clear vinyl raincoat is so cool looking with the trim and I will make another one using the 12 gauge for a wearable raincoat for Mori. I used this See & sew pattern because I did not want to get a difficult pattern for this stiff vinyl and it worked out well, not too many issues. This was a really great pattern for an unlined coat, super-duper easy and beginner friendly. 

This is the funniest thing EVER!!!! After we finished our pictures in the rain I stood this thing up and it stood tall and proud! Come-on you gotta love that!!!

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