Post the Ninth: No Problem Masking Tape and Half a Ream of Paper Can't Fix

snip, snip, snip

Welcome back! Starting work on the cloak this time. Don't have a pattern for this, but I do have a general idea of the shape. Or at least a starting point.

Picture courtesy of fanplusfriend.com

  This is noticeably different from the original sketch, but it'll work a bit better with the actual jacket. At least it shouldn't need the weird belts and straps pulling from the opposite shoulder. Assuming I can pull something like this off.

  Honestly if this was red, not black, I'd be giving serious thought to just sucking it up and buying it. No shame in just buying a thing--but it's not red. So I won't.

  Anyway, capes are generally just semi-circles and rectangles. The general idea, if you were curious, is this:

The level of award winning illustrations you've come to expect from this blog.

  So! With that in mind, time to pull out the computer paper and muslin and start playing with shapes.

The "8-bit" version, if you will.

  Basic shape and position. The mantle* looks fairly straightforward, so totally ignoring it for the time being. Ignoring things is fun.

  *I have no idea what that part of the cape is actually called. I know that's not really what a "mantle" is, but that's what I'm calling it since no other word is really jumping up and it needs to be called something.

Is this anything?

What even? No. Keep trying.

Special guest appearance by The Cat.

  That's more like what I want the drape to be like. The final cape will be thicker, so the folds probably won't be as deep, but this is a good general idea. Made a few marks to keep track of the folds. Then pressed out creases so it'd be easier to smooth out the curves a bit and square up the edge.

What the flattened shape looks like, if you're curious.

  Now to shape the collar and mantle, which I keep saying should be much more straightforward and will be very disappointing if it turns out otherwise. 

  Earlier I took the collar off for simplicity's sake. Putting back on and sketching out the basic shape. Ignoring the collar for a moment. That will be easier once this step is done.

Pointy in the front. Swoopy in the back.

  Not 100% sold on those curves on the back, but it'll be a minute before the fabric gets cut. That'll give me some time to ruminate before fully committing.

  Now to worry about the collar. Making it so that it wraps all around the neck. Also, making a new copy because (for some reason) the original is a wrinkled mess. Total mystery how that happened.

  Still have the jacket pattern pieces already printed out, so I can pull out the pieces that revolve around the collar and use them to shape the neck line.

Maaaan, not looking forward to doing something about those epaulet-thingies on the shoulders.

  The back is a little off center in the photo, but that is just from the jacket shifting. (Using a cat tree as a jacket stand, for crying out loud, cut me some slack here.) May want to lower the collar height a smidge to keep the collar from popping too outrageously. Otherwise this looks like a really solid pattern and shouldn't be too hard to put together.

  For the eagle-eyed, you may have noticed the clasps in the above shot. Here's a closer shot. Not sure I trust them to 100% hold the mantle shut, but very excited to see how they look with the final product.

✧∘* Shiny ✧∘*

  But that will have to wait. Not only is this enough work for one week (no, seriously, I'm exhausted), there's an order of trim I'm waiting on. That's right! We're putting TRIM on this hot mess! Will it look good? How should I know? Bought this online with only a vague idea of what it looks like. Could be nice. Could be the gaudiest nonsense you've ever seen.

 You know. Like everything else so far.

Material Directory

Filigree Clasps: Joann Fabrics Dritz brand also carries this, although they are a shade of gold darker than                             Joann's "Fabany" variety

Current background music: The Mountain Goats. "This Year." The Sunset Tree.

Time until deadline: 90 days