A sleek waterproof coat

This latest version of The Utility Coat has been pared back to make the most of this crisp water-repellent fabric.

As I’ve mentioned before, Cloth House have introduced a new line of waterproof cottons to their range. The fabrics have a wonderful quality to them and this deepest inky blue one reminds me of oil cloth. It is a marine blue cotton twill with a black PU coating on one side. The polyurethane coating results in a slick water-repellent finish, perfect for a simplified version of The Utility Coat.

The changes I made were minimal but changed the overall look of the garment. I decided against the gathers at the waist, cuff and hem but chose to add a vent at the back and deep flaps to the pockets. I cut out the pattern pieces exactly as the pattern except for the back seam; here I added an extra 2cm to allow for the back vent.

I also increased the depth of the pocket flaps slightly by 2cm.

To keep a clean finish, I chose sew-on snap fasteners for the pocket flaps and centre front.

However, the stitching for the fasteners is hidden from the face of the garment so some forward planning here is required. On the pocket flaps I made the flaps up as shown in step 1a of the pattern instructions. Then once the flap is turned through, I stitched one part of the fastener towards each bottom corner, using the opening to ensure I didn’t stitch through both layers of the flap. Once I had completed step 1e I attached the second part of the fastener to the pocket bag.

For the centre front closure, I attached the fastenings for the right-hand side front when worn, to the facing only. Then used Hi-Tack glue, a flexible adhesive, to stick the facing flat to the front. For the left hand front, I stitched through both front and facing so this did not need glue.

The finished effect is a slick waterproof garment with a comfortable cotton inner surface that is roomy enough to wear over multiple layers in winter.

The full range of Cloth House coated cottons is available here. The fabric I used is Coated Cotton Jasper. 

I used a universal machine needle and this fabric did not require a Teflon foot as I found it did not stick to the machine foot or plate.