Fabric Score!

During all the lovely rain we've had recently, I realised that I don't have a waterproof coat that doesn't look like it should be worn walking up a hill or cycling all day.  This got me thinking and I had a little trawl round the internet.  The traditional raincoat is of course a 'mackintosh' but I'm just not into coats with belts.  I did have a look at the website of the original Mackintosh company and their coats are fantastic!  Really classic designs and as the website had no prices on the coats, or an online shop I realised that they would definitely be out of my price bracket.

Mackintosh - Banton 

The first problem with making a raincoat is fabric - I'm not a huge fan of Pertex, Gore-Tex or other waterproof fabrics - they're just so noisy, not to mention plasticky, so I remembered reading about a fabric called Ventile which was a waterproof fabric used by explorers in the early 20th Century.  It's actually a cotton fabric, but it is woven so tightly that it's impervious to water.  I managed to find one company selling Ventile, but they only had it in black.  

I decided to have a look at the website of the company who make Ventile and thought to myself 'why don't I ask them if they'll sell me a few metres?'  Anyway to cut a long story short - they are going to sell me 4m of their 'stone' colour for a really excellent price and the icing on the cake is, that they are suppliers for Mackintosh so I'll get my very own couture coat at a fraction of the price - what a scoop!

Here is the pattern I'm going to use:

I will make it so it's knee length and maybe take out some of the waist shaping so it's more tent like.  The only problem is when am I going to get time to make this thing!

2012...the end of the world....

Well I'm back after a good, long, rest.  It was a bit of a shock to have to get out of bed early again.........but I'm back and have made a good start to the new year.  Yesterday I finished nine girls dresses that I started last year and today I finished the drawings for my screen printed doll and ordered the screens!  The next bit is going to be really scary as I will now have to screen print my 30m of organic cotton fabric.  I. Am. Very. Nervous.  I am very excited though!  Here's what the final front side of the doll currently  looks like:

I will have to start work on the instructions next and get the fabric pre-washed before I print.  I also finished my first four recycled dolls over the holidays too and the next step with them is to get the after photos taken.  I need to take the pictures outside but the weather has been pretty awful.


I also got my hair cut this week and it is pretty short - I couldn't handle my wayward grey hair anymore.  I'd like to think I look like this now but I can only dream of being as gorgeous as Julie Christie:

It's going to be a big year if I believe my husband - as this year is the final year in the Mayan calendar big changes will be afoot.  Hopefully they are good changes.