Saturday, May 19, 2018

#6costumes2months Short Cape

 I didn't feel brave enough to go with a full length cloak, but looking on Pinterest sparked the desire to have a mid-length cape to use.

   The Tudor-era style of wearing a short cape slung over only one shoulder always looks so dashing to me, so I hoped to create one that could go either way.

  I used a short plush polly, of a sort of "polar fleece" variety, but with enough nap to look like one of the velvet family.
  It's got some major stretch in it, which was not what I was aiming for, but so far I've not had any ill effects.
 
    I am a huge fan of making things reversible, and if we were going to trim this with the faux fur I wanted that to look nice on both sides. That proved to be a trick, something that I'm still not sure I have a great answer to.

Basically I just ended up wrestling with it until it succumbed to my will.

 But the collar is full fur on the underside, so if reversed it has a different look. (I like doing that!)
  It is possible that the front edges could use something to stabilize them, rescue from a tenancy to 'sag' courtesy of all that stretch I mentioned earlier.
  At this point the jury is out, so we'll wait and see. I can always add a heavy trim later (which would look fancy as well as add solidity.)

   Or I could run the faux fur up there as well, and hopefully I'd have a smoother time of it this time around, having busted through that wall once already.

 Although we took a photoshoot of it the instant it was "done"... (a la these pics) It still isn't really done.
 The lower trim isn't finished off at the front edge, because I'm still not decided on whether to run that up the front or not... and it needs a clasp or several to be fully functional.

 (I used straight pins to attach it to my bodice straps for this shoot. A practice I do not intend to make a habit of... those stab!)

2 comments:

Unknown said...

You're right, the short cape really does look dashing. That faux fur sets it off so elegantly. It certainly looks like it came out of a book!

E. KaIser Writes said...

Thanks, Kelsey!
And what do you think, should the fur trim run up the front edges, as well, or not?
I'm polling the audience!!!