Are you pregnant and own a North Face arctic parka?

[zoemaguire]

One of these - black knee length.

If so, I made a tailor-made extension section for when I was pregnant and/or carrying a small baby in a sling. I spent ages making it and if I say so myself it is pretty good - it's made of waterproof material, insulated, zips in to the north face zips and poppers, and has a draw-cord to keep your neck warm! It is even extendible according to how pregnant you are:)

Anyway, I'm not pregnant any more, and also done with having babies. If anybody would like it, it's free to a good home! I'll even post it to you!

[zoemaguire]

Just to be clear, I'm only offering the extension section - I'm keeping the coat

[PosterEh]

That sounds amazing. I have that coat but still only ttc (for 9 months now). Having survived two Winter pregnancies with no coat with a bit of luck I'll get pregnant soon and have a summer pregnancy!

[scatterthenuns]

Don't have that particular coat, but wanted to tell you how fantastic your extension sounds!

[Skiptonlass]

I've been thinking of making one of these! I don't have that specific coat but something very similar. Any tips on where to obtain materials/insulation from?

Did you use a specific pattern?

I would love to see a pic of it if you don't mind - would be good to see how you approached it :)

[Graciescotland]

Don't have that coat, have a didrikson, but I scoured the internet desperately hoping someone sold something like this when I was pregnant. I would of cheerfully handed over fifty quid or so to have one made to order.

[sparechange]

That sounds amazing! I'm tempted to buy the coat just so I can have your extender! Are you sure there isn't a market for these? It is such a great idea

[Skiptonlass]

There are a couple of companies that sell them (kokoala in Canada) but I'm having trouble finding one here...

It is a great idea!

[Silverglitter]

Wow I have this coat and was just thinking I'm going to be so sad not to be able to wear it this year ( I will be about 20 weeks come December so it definitely won't zip by then!
I have a long walk from my car to work each day so would really miss it!
If you are sure you wouldn't use it again and want to find a loving new home for it I would be delighted to have it?

[zoemaguire]

Thanks for all the nice comments! Skiptonlass, I'll happily post a picture - might be later today before I get round to it though. I'm sure the design could be tweaked - the poppers probably could do with better positioning - but it worked well enough.

I did wonder about a market for this kind of thing, but as I started investigating I realised why it's so hard to do. Every single zip seems to be different! It took me days and several failed attempts to find a compatible zip online, and that was with the coat there to try them out. Doing it made to order for somebody else, without the coat to hand, would be seriously difficult.

Now to find an actual taker. Yoohoo, pregnant north face arctic parka owners, over here!

[zoemaguire]

Ooh, cross-post. Silverglitter, pm me your address and I will stick it in the post for you! I'd be delighted to find it a new home.

Disclaimer: it is home-made, so while I'm told it looks pretty professional, it does have a few extra holes in the back bit of material where I stuck the poppers in the wrong place. Hope that is ok!

[scatterthenuns]

What a nice thread

[Silverglitter]

That is so kind of you I can't thank you enough it's made my day!
I've PM'd you!

[zoemaguire]

Apologies for disappearing. Silverglitter, I've finally managed to write some instructions, so I'll stick everything in the post tomorrow.

Skiptonlass, here are some pics. The zips were from www.antrimm.co.uk , the press studs (and bits of metal to bash them closed against!) were from eBay, and the material ('coated polyester microfibre') was from www.profabrics.co.uk - hurray for being too lazy to delete random order confirmation emails from 2013!

[Silverglitter]

Thanks so much it looks great, it already feels cold enough for me to need my coat here so I can't wait to get it on!

[missmakesstuff]

That is brilliant, I loved my parka and just wore it with a secondhand long maternity fleece from jojo all winter, but this would have been fab! You could seriously market these..

[Skiptonlass]

Thank you!! I will definitely have a crack at making one of these for the winter :)

[zoemaguire]

Silverglitter, i just put it in the post:) Skiptonlass, v pleased to hear that! I don't actually much enjoy sewing as a process, but the results are satisfying enough that I do it anyway!

[Silverglitter]

Thank you so much I can't wait for it to arrive

[NewBallsPlease00]

Me!
Brilliant idea, school Rubin December with baby toasty in pram but me not lost baby weight will be drafty- will give it a go!

[zoemaguire]

Sorry newballs, it's already gone to Silverglitter!