|  | | |   I've always wanted a super-gorgeous cloakto swoosh about town in. Folkwear's Kinsale Cloak pattern has been sittingin my stash for years & years, and now I am going to make it at last!
I have chosen a heavyish forest greenwool, so I can certainly look forward to an enjoyable time with all ofthat gathering. I'll use a satin for the lining fabric, which I have yetto select. February 25 I'm still reclaiming my sewing room frommy I have to shorten the pieces; the cloakis designed for someone who is 5'7", and SewGeeky is a bit on the shortside, so I need to hack off about 4 inches. Fortunately, there is a catlounging extravagantly in the center of the main pieces, which should helpthe process. Merlin is sprawled on his back, kicking idly at his catnipBill Clinton doll, and definitely lending his full support to this project.Fortunately, Folkwear patterns are printed on a relatively sturdy paper,so the wrinkles should press out easily. Next, I will spread out the fabric andstart cutting. Good thing that never interests a cat... February 26 I've cut out all of the pieces. In additionto shortening the cape, I also decided to decrease the width a bit; thiswill help when I am gathering the fullness into the collar. Since the woolis fairly bulky, I think it will look more graceful with slightly lessfullness; In total, I eliminated about 10% of the width. Since I also eliminatedabout 10% of the length, I don't think it will affect the overall linestoo much. As a bonus, this also decreases the fabricrequirements by about a yard and a half. By making the panels a bit narrower,I was able to use the entire width of my fabric (which is a full 60").I see a nice boxy little green jacket in my future! Or at least in my futurepattern/fabric stash. February 28 Well, let's pretend that I did not justtry to fuse the wrong side of the interfacing. I'm giving myself a time out. I was goingto fuse strips of Pel-Air to the front edges of the cloak, to help definethe edges. Instead, I fused it to the iron. DUH! I'm using fusibles for this part, and thenI'll do some hand shaping in the collar, with hair canvas. I haven't donethat in about 6 years, so it should be entertaining. Fortunately, I havemy trusty Singer tailoring book close at hand. I bought the lining today; its just a basicheavy black satin acetate lining. Nothing terribly exciting. I also picked up some patterns & ultracheapremnants for a few other projects; unfortunately, they're Black Projectsfor now, since they're gifts. No details until they're finished! I found some lovely clasps online at DragonspawnCrafthall. I have a necklace of theirs which I bought at WorldCon;they do nice work! The bronze Florentine knots would be gorgeous with malachitecenters...I know what I'm ordering the next time I'm feeling self-indulgent! (later) Ok, things are looking good...the collaris assembled, shaped, and attached to the cloak. The gathering part wasn'tas bad as I was expecting; I gathered the main cloak section by hand, usingbutton & carpet thread. Then, I basted it to the collar, within theseam allowance, using the same thread. My machine took to the task of sewing throughall those layers very well, even though I almost couldn't get them allunder the presser foot! I used my zipper foot, since that is the smallest,with the foot to the left of the needle. The basting kept things togetheron the right, and, actually, the feed dog was only doing about half thejob of keeping the fabric moving; I was helping, too! Once again, I haveonly good things to say about my Bernette! Levoca Top-HotelbewertungenThe cloak is hanging from a hook in theceiling for the next 2 days, and then I will hang the hem. I want it toget all of its stretching out of the way now, before the hem goes in. I should finish the hood tomorrow. March 5 The cloak has been hanging from its hookfor, um, about a week now, still unhemmed. The aforementioned Black Projectshave been consuming all of my sewing time! I have a deadline for those,and not for the cloak, so guess which one gets brushed aside! I wish Icould talk about these other projects...I'm having so much fun! (3-26-98 five star hotel in RothenburgI've added some informationabout these projects here.And, no, I haven't worked on the cloak lately...) The cloak is going to remain on its hangeruntil it starts getting cold enough to actually wear it, at which point,I shall hem it, add a clasp, and swoop about joyfully. I shall also takea photo, of course, and post it here! |
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