One Little Raincoat? Check.
A few weeks ago Mrs. Moen gave me the idea to use a tablecloth in a sewing project. Which is brilliant really, only I didn’t have any. I was walking around my big box retailer not long after that and found this floral tablecloth. It was big, like seven feet long and five feet wide. And it was $3. And I got an idea.
It was one of those summer picnic staples. You know, the vinyl tablecloth you can wipe right off because it’s waterproof. And that’s when my brain said “Waterproof huh… I bet that would make a good raincoat.” I picked up a little yellow flannel and came home. (If I had dug through my stash again I would have found a yellow sheet that was on my bed in junior high in this exact same color and pattern, but I didn’t think of that.) I had recently purchased this pattern and it was as if the stars had aligned. (The pattern comes with sizes 0-5. I made size one and I’m pretty sure she can wear it for two years at least.) I finished this yesterday during naptime and I couldn’t be happier. Creamie is pretty pleased with it herself.
I love this little face.
It has little gathers in the front and back and at the top of the sleeves. It also has turn up cuffs (good for growing girls and growing arms) and a great big hood.
It is also fully lined and can easily be reversible. Which is brilliant.
Man, I love this girl.
I think I might go get a few more buttons. The pattern only calls for one up at the top, but that’s not going to keep out much rain is it. Of course, buying two or three more buttons is going to cost more than half what I’ve already spent. I figure I used about 25 cents worth of the tablecloth. There is about $1.25 worth of flannel in there. And the buttons are 75 cents each. (I opted to omit the fusible interfacing layer because the tablecloth is pretty sturdy.) So right now we are at a grand total of $3. Man, I love being cheap.
There was only one thing about the pattern that I didn’t really like. After sewing the two layers together all the way around the outside edge it said to turn it right side out through a sleeve. But that hood is pretty good sized and I didn’t want to fight it through a tiny sleeve opening, so I left about six inches open at the bottom and turned it that way. Much easier in my opinion. Also, there is one major downside to sewing on vinyl. When you make a mistake your needle holes are permanent. When I was sewing on one of the sleeves the fabric got a little folded under and stuck in my seam. So after I unpicked it I can still see the tiny little needle holes. Ah well, you can’t see them and Creamie doesn’t care. And it’s not like she needs a completely waterproof coat. She’s not going deepsea diving in it.
So, what am I going to make out of the rest of this tablecloth? I don’t know. Maybe more rainjackets… one in every size.
I’m linking up to Mrs. Moen’s tablecloth challenge. And now I’m going to pretend that it doesn’t feel like Monday. UPDATE: Also I’m going to link this up to Sew&Tell at Amy’s. Both places are full of fun things to look at. So, go look :o)
pinksuedeshoe 
Genius!!
That is the most adorable coat I’ve ever seen. I love the colors and the patterns; what a lucky little lady! 🙂
This is so cute! I love cheap too especially when it turns out this sweet!Nice job!
Seriously. So. Adorable.
I just love it!
Love her jacket! That is so cute and the tabecloth is perfect!
Yeah, just consider my fb comments to be here. Seriously, I adore this, and Creamie is such a doll. 🙂
WOW. You are a rockstar!
How sweet is that and what a cute little girl she is. I wish I could have found
something as cute for my little boy – it is so great you you can make her
exactly what she needs. Fabulous.
Okay seriously – you have got to be the most talented woman ever!! I’ve been “spying” on your blog for a long time now, and I’m in awe of everything you do! Just so you know – I’m not a complete stranger. My cousin is Catherine Bartlett. That’s how I found you… I was bored one day, blog browsing, and clicked on you from her blog. Anyway – I finally had to come out and say something… because you amaze me every single day! I don’t even know how to thread my sewing machine, but you make me wish I could!! So thanks for your daily inspiration. I wish I was like you… I have no ogranizing skills and no sewing skills and my crafting skills are nothing compared to yours 🙂 This raincoat is absolutely adorable! If I ever have a little girl I just might need to hire you to make her clothes… and I’m only kinda joking 🙂
What a fantastic rain coat! Absolutely lovely, well done.
wowsers that is so cute!!! i love it, not much else to say but that i love it!
Brilliant and soo adorable! I love how you’re thinking outside the box (box? which box??); thank you for joining in on the Table Cloth Challenge!
Seriosly SO cute!!!! I can’t wait to have some craft nights w/you when I move back. I could learn a lot from you. Which is in 2 weeks btw:)
Who is that other Jessie. I didn’t know there were other Jessie’s out there…
And who you are?! Seriously. I thought my son’s pillow was the apex of creativity but apparently I was wrong. You inspire me!….to ask you to make more things for me…….
🙂 Finishing up your photoshoot now….
OMG, I want to just squeeze those cheeks!!! Creamie is uber-cute and may be the only little kid that gets to grow up in the 20-teens to tell people her mom was so cheap AND TALENTED that she made her wear a table cloth rain jacket ‘back in the day’ . Amazing!
Ka-
I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT! You are amazing. You need to teach me some of your skills. I love the pattern and Creamie looks adorable in it!
Love you!
-Mindy
That is one fantastic raincoat! That is one great cheap coat. You are a great bargain hunter.
I love how thrifty you are. I have no thrifty skills.
Also, love your blog. I read you through google reader, so I never see your actual blog, but today, because I had to tell you something, I logged on to your site. Love your widgets and their cute borders. It’s so you.
Now, for what I had to tell you. Have you been to this blog? She has bluebird in her heading. Of course I thought of you. AND, for a good cry, check out her youtube video, which tells her story.
http://nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/
Oh my, you are so clever!!! The little raincoat is fantastic! She looks adorable in it.
This is genius!! And adorable!!
I love you so much. And this raincoat as well. Tonight I’m going to pray that I can be more like you–or at least that I won’t feel so bad that I am not capable of suck creativity. You’re a star!
Ok, you have to know I didn’t mean to type “suck creativity”, because obviously your creativity doesn’t suck. SUCH. SUCH creativity…
you are killing me with cuteness! Is that one of the BH&G things at ***-Mart? I love it!!! You are so productive. thanks for making up for my slackerly-ness.
Adorable! What a brilliant idea!
That turned out so cute! Who would have thought? I love the colors and Creampuff is adorable!
Absolutely adorable! And the coat is really cute too 🙂
Oh my! She is a cutie and so is that jacket!
what an absolutely brilliant idea…it looks great and your little one looks so precious modeling it
You’re killing me! I know better than to do clothes – quilting is so much easier to me. But! I have some baby pink and white polka-dot vinyl. How cute would that be?! How much vinyl does this recipe call for? 🙂
That is adorable! I love it!
Seriously cute…. great idea!
Ok..So this one is BRILLIANT!
Adorable! Cute raincoat…cuter model!
This is incredible! Are there bigger sizes available?
That is just so cute! well done♥
Thankyou for sharing what you did with my pattern! I LOVE it so much 🙂 You are so clever!
How cute is your little girl?!!
Hey would you mind letting me know which webhost you’re using?
I’ve loaded your blog in 3 completely different web browsers and I must say
this blog loads a lot quicker then most. Can you suggest a good web hosting provider
at a honest price? Cheers, I appreciate it!