Winter Running Sewing: Rain Jacket/Windbreaker 2

Last Spring I made my first Learn MYOG Ultralight Windshell (#ULwindshell) using a fairly thick fabric. It's great for meeting the kids at the bus stop or walking in rain or wind but it's heavier than I would like for running. So I bought a couple yards of 1.6oz HyperD in a beautiful Robin's Egg Blue from RipstopByTheRoll.com . I also got stoppers and shock cord from them and I ordered zippers from Wawak. I decided to use powermesh I had around for the pockets.

And then it got hot. So I set the whole business aside. I sort of hoped that another company would come out with a pattern over the summer but no. So after the first cold snap this Fall, I pulled the ziplock out with all the supplies.

In the intervening time, there had been a major update to the pattern that included a redesigned hood, a zipper guard, redesigned pockets, and a new stuff pocket.

Two questions (at least) remained: 1) increased ventilation - pit zips which could rub or some sort of back vent? and 2) make the hood stowable or removable?

I decided on the back vent based in part on ones I saw at REI and in part on Saremy's sun shirt. I cut the back just below the armscye and duplicated the top part. On one copy, I moved the line up 1.5" and then added back 3/8" seam allowance - for the vent material. On the other, I added 1.5" for hem allowance. On the bottom piece I added 3/8" seam allowance. I sewed the mesh to the bottom, serged, and topstitched. Finished the top, hemmed, and then basted around the edges and then treated the back as one.

For the hood, I consulted with the guildies. The consensus was that I would have to tradeoff some of the hood's fit to tuck it into a collar so I went with what this Brooks jacket has

I was also trying to figure out where to put the reflective piping.

I ended up using the welt food that came in my big set and putting it on the sleeve seams (I basted it to the body piece first and that was much easier. I also put it around the hood. I had a suggestion to put it at the zipper but it seemed too tricky. I wish I had put it in the hood.

This fabric frays like WHOA but feels really nice and soft. Also I may have used it wrong side out so rain will get right though and sweat will be held to the skin. Time will tell. Overall, I'm very happy with it, but am not in a hurry to make more things with this fabric.

The zippers - I did not use the waterproof zipper I bought because it's really heavy and shiny and there are so many needle holes in this I figured it wouldn't make much sense. for the pockets, I did regular no3 zippers so they would hide better.

The shock cord from RipStop is easy to sew through, unlike the stuff from Amazon so I would recommend that.

Next time I'll probably leave off the hood pocket and shorten the length a little.