Stylish Waterproofs? Part Two

I'm not sure that my search for the elusive stylish waterproof is going all that well. Perhaps there is a reason that waterproofs can't be bought in more urban styles.

The fabric is quite challenging to work with as it doesn't ease. This means the seams, which I have been pressing to one side and then top stitching, get a bit wrinkly. And although the fabric for the latest pair appears to be some kind of cotton or poly cotton with a glazed finish (I don't actually know for sure what the fibre content is since it came from a Fabric Mart free bundle some years ago and was unlabelled) it is still rather difficult to work with, though at least it can be ironed, unlike the brown, so at least I could tame the seams a little on this pair.

The lack of ease in the fabric causes quite a bit of trouble on a deeply curved crotch curve such as this one. Both pairs have wrinkles at the base of the fly which show, and a few wrinkles further down the curve that no one should see, but I know are there. And you can clearly see on this pair how the fabric is pulling against the waistband area even though I was very careful to leave as much ease as possible there. The fabric creeps badly on the top layer when sewing so too much ease and there were puckers, not enough ease, and there was pulling. I felt rather unable to win.

The lack of ease in the fabric also translates into a binding tightness when worn if enough ease is not allowed. I discovered this in the brown pair, and for this pair I have sewn the side seams and inseams at three eighths of an inch, to give myself a bit more room in case I want to wear them over a pair of trousers. I sewed the crotch seam at the original five eighths because I realised, just prior to trying to sew at three eighths, that this would shorten rather than lengthen the amount of sitting room I had. Also, my fly extension was designed for a five eighths seam and I wanted to preserve the same fly size. To give myself more sitting room, I've attached the waistband with a three eighths not five eighths seam and made a two piece waistband (outer and inner pieces) and sewed the top seam at three eighths, giving me an extra half inch sitting room.

In theory. In practice, it didn't work so great and I don't have much more seat room. Not sure quite how I managed that since I made the waistband longer than I needed and added belt loops. Theoretically these should have been too large in the waist, allowing me to wear them slightly lower to allow the seat room. Somehow, this didn't work out the way I had planned.

The cotton fabric, whilst almost as rustley as the brown, does seem to drape slightly more like "real" trousers and therefore is nearer to the look I was trying to achieve. However, both still look like what they are; waterproof trousers.

So I don't think I have quite achieved what I set out to do. Perhaps its not possible to do it for reasons of fabric type and ease of movement. However, I do think that both the navy and the brown pair are slightly more elegant than the grey Rohan Dry Bags which I have been wearing for the last ten years. They were my mum's, she wore them for about ten years, and passed them to me to "tide me over" until I could afford some in my own size. I am actually wearing my jeans and a heavy buckled belt under the Dry bags in the photograph.

I don't plan to give up on my quest, but I think it needs a different type of fabric in order to work well. One option I am considering is making a pair of polyester fabric trousers with a rip stop lining instead of the more usual lining fabric. The polyester should be relatively quick to dry, practical to launder and shouldn't fight too badly with the ripstop, which is reasonably slippery.

Meanwhile, I have two new pairs of waterproofs so, if nothing else, I reckon I've saved myself well over £100.

However, one crucial thing has yet to be tested; I don't yet know if they are truly waterproof. Not that I would actually wish for rain, but usually in Yorkshire you get it and wish you hadn't. But, since I made the trousers, we have had little rain, it hasn't happened when I have needed to go outdoors, and its been namby pamby, drizzley rain. Not the normal horizontal, gale force wind-blown downpour that would truly test my handiwork. I was tempted to stand in the shower wearing them. But I think that would be going a little too far.