Singing in the rain

I like rain. I'm used to it. After all, I'm from the Lake District originally. When it's too dry (as it usually is round here during the summer), I get twitchy. We had one summer a couple of years ago where it was so dry that all the grass went completely brown, and one of my friends said it reminded him of home, and I thought... that is just not right. "Home", in his case, was South Africa.

And when one goes out in the rain, obviously one puts on something waterproof, because while rain is nice, being soaked to the skin is definitely not. If you're able-bodied, you simply take it for granted that you can get a raincoat to suit you, in the style and colour that you like and at a reasonable price point.

Oh, great Scott, I miss that.

I can stand up, so I could, of course, just wear a regular raincoat; but those tend to be awkward in a mobility scooter, which is why there is specialist mobility rainwear in the first place. In a scooter, or for that matter a wheelchair, it rains straight down onto your knees, so those need to be covered. So if you wear a regular raincoat, it had better be a long one; but then it's awkward to get on and off (and if you can't stand up, then you can't do that at all), and there's a risk of it getting caught in your wheels. So, generally, what you do is you have a poncho. And you can have any colour you like as long as it's dark navy.

This makes no sense to me at all. Granted, there are fewer people on wheels than not on wheels; but there are also fewer children than adults (and if you select a particular age band that a garment is likely to fit, then there are far fewer), and there is a huge range of styles available for children. A toddler can have a sparkly raincoat with unicorns, accompanied by dinosaur wellies, if they want. So I do not buy the argument that there are so few people needing a mobility poncho that it's uneconomic to make them in more than one colour. I think it's simply a failure of imagination on the part of manufacturers; they seem to have this strange idea in the backs of their minds that the moment you develop mobility problems, you instantly and automatically lose all your sense of style and general joie de vivre, so you'll put up with any old boring thing.

I have only one word for that attitude. Well, it's not really a word. It is a fine resounding raspberry.

So I decided I am making my own. Leatherette is nowhere near as hard to sew by hand as you might imagine, at least if you pick the right leatherette; this is medium, borderline heavy, and I think that's about as far as one reasonably wants to go. (I could have picked something lighter, but it can get quite windy here and I didn't want to end up resembling a kite.) The lining is exactly the same as I used for my Harry Cape, because I love that particular shade and it looks very good with grey/silver. Also, the poncho is likely to be worn over the cape, since the poncho is intended to be waterproof rather than warm (it doesn't rain often here in the summer, but one should still be prepared for when it does) and the cape is the other way, so when I need both I'll combine them, and therefore it's useful if they look good together. I am also planning to make an oversized hood so that it will accommodate my fedora if necessary, rather than having to stick that in the bag on the back of the scooter. After all, I frequently carry other things in the bag on the back; it's a big hat and there is only so much room in there.

I will be using my boring old poncho as a template. This doesn't have centre front and back seams, but mine will because the fabric is different. The old one is made from the usual ripstop nylon, and it has a front zip with a placket over it. I don't want to do that with leatherette; so I shall have central seams to allow for a neat front opening without a placket, and then I shall make a large tab, probably trapezoidal in shape, with the narrow part sewn across the base of the opening. That will then button to the poncho on both sides to keep it closed. This means that I don't have to make self facings (I'm not sure about putting buttonholes through two layers of heavyish leatherette, even though it doesn't fray) or put a buttonhole through the lining (which does fray); I will just line the tab with a remnant of extremely light, soft, stretch leatherette in dark red, which I happen to have, because of course I do. And, yes, there are indeed five buttons in the photo. It always pays to get a spare.

That grey binding is also leatherette. I thought it was folded like bias binding, but it turns out not to be, which is actually quite helpful. That is going to be sewn around the inside edge of the hood to make a channel for the draw cord. I wanted red accents to go with my red knitted hat and scarf. And, last but by no means least, that metallic heart trim - isn't it frabjous? - will be going all around the lower edge. It's essentially the same as the gold heart trim I used on the concert skirt (well, the overskirt thereof) and the black chiffon poncho. It is, again, leatherette, so extremely easy to handle and nothing's going to fray.

I don't normally post projects here till they're finished; but I am very excited about this one. I'll be starting it in a few days, once I've finished the current Southbank Sweater (burgundy ribbed velour; they call it velvet on the site, but since it's a stretch knit, it's velour, except from the look of it, it can't quite decide whether it's velour or corduroy). And then I'll be hitting the streets in style!

Oh, and, yes, indeed I do sing in the rain. In fact, rain is particularly good for singing in, because there are fewer people around; although I must admit to having occasionally disconcerted an intrepid dog-walker by rolling around a corner belting out Prince Orlofsky's aria from Die Fledermaus. (You know the one. Where he's explaining all about his national peculiarities. Though I do know some Russians and they don't act like Prince Orlofsky, so... maybe not so national.) Well, it suits my voice - that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it! 😁