Saturday 5 March 2016

Modern Update to a Vintage Cape Pattern: The Final Chapter

Stash-busting 2016:  OOP Simplicity 6680 and OOP Vogue 8863

Did you see the Sew the Trends:  London & Milan Fashion Week, Fall '16 report over at Burda Style? Well, I was pretty thrilled to see that "statement capes" will be a look to sew for Autumn 2016. I can check that one off my list!



I never play without my cape. 
~Bela Lugosi~

This cape was a long time coming and it wasn't until I tried on a Kate Spade cape back in December that I really got to work.


My cape became a marriage between two sewing patterns, Simplicity 6680 and Vogue 8863, inspired by some details and measurements of the cape I tried on that day.  

This was just the project that I needed to kick-start my sewing mojo. This project was a fantastic challenge filled with sewing techniques that I longed to master. I spent a small fortune on the supplies for a garment that will have a limited time of wearability but it's worth every penny spent on it because of how this project makes me feel.

The buttonhole opening on the facing was finished off using the method from Tasia St. Germaine's Sewtionary and it worked out quite well.


I marked where my buttonholes meet on the facing and then cover it with fusible interfacing, shiny side up.


Once sewn, clipped and turned to the wrong side of the fabric, it is pressed and the fusible interfacing works like a charm at keeping the shape of the buttonhole facing until it is hand-stitched in place. That Mrs. Sewholic is one smart lady. The cape is finished with a cotton backed satin lining which was hand-stitched to the facing. 


The Stats:  

Fabric:      2.3 metres melton wool

Lining:      2.9 metres cotton backed satin lining

Interfacing:  1.3 metres of hair canvas

Piping:       1.8 metres

Buttons:     4 - 1" buttons

Thread:      4 spools of premium serger thread, cotton thread for the sewing machine, and silk thread for the pad stitching.

Pattern:      Vintage Simplicity 6680 and Vogue 8863

Time:         I invested 36 hours into the creation of this garment.

Additional Tools and Supplies:  Sewing machine, serger, clapper, tailor's ham, steam iron, ironing board, pressing mitt, thimble, tailor's chalk, walking foot, zipper foot, seam ripper, Podcast #29 Claire Shaeffer Haute Couture Revealed (encouraging me to invest the time into all that basting and hand-stitching) from Threadcult.com, hand needles, Chai latte breaks, sewing books (Sew a Fine Seam, Vogue Sewing, Sewtionary, and Reader's Digest Complete Guide to Sewing) box of kleenex, tylenol, coffee, more kleenex, tylenol and coffee.


Happy Sewing!

7 comments:

  1. Oh wow, it looks great! What a lovely colour you chose.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Heather! Today, it is supposed to be a high of plus three, I might be able to get away with wearing it today.

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  2. It looks splendid! It will be quite the statement piece next fall.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, it was a lot of work but I quite enjoyed it.

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  3. That's gorgeous! And it will be perfect to wear this coming week, as long as you can avoid being splashed from the dirty puddles.

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  4. With the anticipated temps this week, you might want to make a "raincoat" cape using the same pattern???

    Great cape! I love your rationalization of "worth every penny because of how it makes me feel!" :)

    Brenda

    ReplyDelete

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