Delicious Chocolate Cape

Nope, that's not a typo.  Delicious, you might wonder?  Sure this beautiful wool cape may not be too tasty but it certainly is pleasing to the senses.

Meet the latest addition to my wool cape collection, a more masculine herringbone piece in chocolate brown.  It is a slightly heavier wool than the red herringbone which actually made it easier to work with; fewer wrinkles, cleaner edges, less stretch.

A beautifully feminine jade-green floral crinkle polyester was chosen for the lining to balance out the chocolate.  I was a little hesitant at first to use crinkle polyester as lining but it still feels great against my bare arms and the print is just too gorgeous to pass up.  The pink and maroon tones in the blossoming peonies would actually make this a wonderful lining choice for the red wool as well.

Again I added a loop for hanging up the cape which is situated by the right shoulder rather than the centre neckline.  This allows the cape to hang more uniformly since the opening of the cape is asymmetric.

One minor change in the design of the cape is to the button enclosures near the bottom of the arm slits.  Previously on the red cape I used just a loop with a 4-hole flat button but the attachment was not as secure as I would have liked.  Perhaps elastic cord would have worked better to keep a snug fit against the button but I wasn't thrilled about that option. 

This time around I went with old fashioned buttonholes.  I also switched out the flat button with a shank button.  Much better connection.  

And here's how the Singer makes buttonholes.  No, I can't just press the "buttonhole" option on my machine. Instead I have to switch out the standard foot and screw in this stapler-sized contraption.  I know...pretty awesome.  

Since the needle on the Singer can only move in a straight line, this device clamps down on the fabric and moves that from side to side to complete the stitch.  Same concept applies for the zig-zag attachment I have (I know, a separate attachment for each stitch style). 

The buttonholer comes with a set of cams of different sizes.  The 9/16" worked perfectly for this application.

And here's the result.  I still prefer to wear the cape with the slits unbuttoned at the bottom to show off the lining which is intended to be a feature of this piece.  On windy days though, I can see how these buttons will come in really handy.

Finally, guess what? This cape was made to sell.  That's right, I am in the process of starting a small collection of wool capes that will be up for sale in the not-too-distant-future.  Stay tuned for more details and feel free to contact me through this blog if you are interested. I will be posting photos of a silver-grey cape before this month's end :)