Hi all – If you follow sewing blogs, you’ve probably heard that February is UFO month, unfinished objects, as in projects that have languished on your sewing table and need to be completed. True confessions. I have PLENTY of those. This cape is a perfect example, a stash busting project I started a year ago, but couldn’t seem to finish.
I was inspired to make this cape by the Burberry capes I saw on the fall runways.
I loved the lovely color blocked blanket look, and decided by doing a bit of patch work I could get something similar.
The pattern I used is Vogue 9038, an easy cape you can sew in an evening.
I used the pattern pieces as a template as I began to piece together bits of wool I had in my stash. Although the pattern offers a rounded version and a squared off version, I chose the squared off version so that I could block solid pieces of wool together without having to deal with curves! I used five colors, about 1 yard of red, 1/2 yard of turquoise, 1 yard of black, 1/3 a yard of camel, 1/3 yard of brown. I made the smallest size of View A as I am only 5’4″.
I patch-worked two versions of the cape so that it would be double faced and reversible.
Here’s side one.
Side two.
I laid the pieces of fabric on my sewing table and just cut rectangles and squares, sewing them together with 5/8″ seams until I had the shape of the cape filled in. This took about two hours per side, as I stopped frequently to decide what color to use next. I didn’t use a template..I just cut and sewed. There wasn’t any method to my madness other than I knew I wanted to have one side predominately red, and the other predominantly black.
It was an easy fun project, perfect for a day of binge watching. The sewing is all straight sewing, no curves, collars etc. So mindless and fun! After sewing my two capes together to make one, I finished the edges with a overlock stitch, using heavy thread. On one side, I sewed two leather toggles (not sure if that’s really what you call those things) so that if it was a windy day, my cape would stay securely fastened. Sometimes though, I’ll just throw it over my shoulder and go.
I don’t know why I waited so long to finish this. Sometimes it’s the simplest projects that seem to stump me. I dithered about how to finish the edges, then I procrastinated on sewing on the leather toggles (with see-through thread). But I’m glad it’s finished now, because it’s so wearable. It’s so easy to throw on for a quick trip to the store, or for an evening out with friends.
What projects are you finishing this February? Happy sewing and thanks for stopping by!
