For a Rainy Day

Here is the result of all of my waterproofing experiments! It’s a trench coat made from waxed silk taffeta. I’ve been wearing it in light rain for 2 days now, and it seems waterproof. I have not yet tried it in a downpour, though, so I’m not sure how it would behave in extreme conditions.

As you can see, the wax is rather uneven. I blotted up some of the excess wax by ironing it with brown paper between the jacket and the iron to absorb the wax, but it is still blotchy. I think I can live with it, though. In fact, the blotchiness is kind of growing on me.

The fabric kind of has the consistency of a Hefty bag, but in a good way. If you can imagine that.

The pattern is from Ryuichiro Shimazaki’s coatmaking book. It is probably called something like “Book of Mens Coats”. I can’t tell exactly what it’s called because I can’t read Japanese.

I left the jacket unlined. Originally, I was planning on lining it, so I used whatever fabric I had lying about for the pocket bags. They would be covered with the lining anyway, don cha know. Then I changed my mind about lining. The fabric is so lightweight that it would make an acceptable summer raincoat, but a lining would make it harder to wear in hot weather. So I spent an hour replacing the pocket bags with self fabric. Yes, I am a lunatic with far too much free time.

I added a button-on hood that was not called for in the original pattern. This way, it will keep me dry even in situations when I can’t carry an umbrella, like when I’m riding a bike.

For some info on my waxing process, please look at this post.

Buttons under the collar for the hood

Here is the inside of the coat, with pocket bags that are the same color as the outside of the coat!

closeup of the waxed fabric.

hood

pocket

back view

I like the sleeve .

Hood