Ready for Rainy Days

So I recovered an umbrella. No big deal. Just another day.

Haha! So not true; It was a big deal! I am incredibly pleased with myself. I loved your Instagram comments on my sneak peek! I didn't have the idea on my own. Of course I saw something on Pinterest that gave me the idea, and we sell oilcloth at the store, which is what I used.

I didn't really take many process pictures because I knew there was already a tutorial out there. But now I wish I had done more, because she used a different kind of umbrella, and I used a slightly different process. But no biggie. If you want to read through a tutorial, here's one I found by Me Sew Crazy.

So what I did was disassemble Johnny-5 -  uh no, my Totes umbrella. (Who remembers Johnny-5?)

The empty frame TOTALLY reminds me of that guy on Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy with the spindly robot legs.

I used a seam ripper to take apart the pieces. That pleated piece was a decoration at the top and turned out to be a long strip. The circle is like a little washer on the inside. I VERY lightly pressed the pieces with a piece of fabric over them to unfold the seam allowances.

I took lots of notes while taking the umbrella apart so I would know how to put it back together when I was finished.

I cut 8 triangles for the umbrella and sewed them together, pressing the seams all in one direction so they twirl around the circle. My pattern piece had a flat tip on the triangle which left a perfectly sized hold to put the screw top through to put it back together. The pleated part was by far the hardest part. Then after I got it all back together I hand sewed the umbrella to the frame.

 I tested it out today in the rain and it works! No leaking!

The only downfall is that the oil cloth is so much thicker than the original fabric that the closed umbrella is super fat now. The velcro tab doesn't actually wrap around the closed umbrella! Oops! Right now I'm using a rubber band to keep it closed! Haha! The tutorial in the link used a silicon spray and regular fabric. I wonder if that's thinner. Plus she used a different kind of frame, which probably helps. But, no matter! I freakin love it.

Used:
1 old Totes umbrella
1 yard oil cloth Joel Dewberry Heirloom
3" velcro