Silver Lining

Here I present the third (and potentially final) variation in my series of wool herringbone capes.

I chose another neutral colour, a lovely silver-grey, which I imagine will be stunning in the fall or winter months.  The piping is more subtle because of its colour which I continue to scrutinize. There is a slightly lavender hue to the piping colour which hints at a softer, more feminine look but I keep wondering whether a darker charcoal piping would have been a better match.  From a distance, like in the photo below, it is harder to notice the detailing along the back.

Finding a complimentary lining proved to be frustrating this time around as I had many second-thoughts.  I bought this blushing antiques polyester long before I was ready to start on the grey cape and at a time when I didn't have my wool swatches with me.  I kept circling the rows and aisles of fabric and returning to this one on the bolt.  Fine, I decided to buy enough for one cape and give it a try.

As I sewed my way through the chocolate brown cape I occasionally took out the blushing antiques fabric and laid it against the silver herringbone, examining it up close and from afar. Somehow by the time I finished the brown cape I had convinced myself there was something better out there.  

Another trip to Queen street and another afternoon poring over satins, polyesters, silks.  Feeling the pressure not to come home empty-handed I purchased a dusty wine-rose jacquard from King Textiles but was somewhat dissatisfied on the return trip.  I went as far as cutting out the entire lining and pinning it to the half-finished wool outer shell. Then I took out the blushing antiques polyester again and stared.  Then I stared some more.

Mike helped me to make the final call.  I presented the two linings and he promptly chose the floral without hesitation.  I think when you spend too much time obsessing about a thing it takes a step back, or an outside perspective, to see the right choice.

Now that the cape is in its final form, the silver herringbone and floral lining wonderfully coupled, there's absolutely no more doubt in my mind.  Mike's veto to the jacquard was well-played.

And you may have noticed that this cape has a label!  My labels arrived last week and I have been hand-stitching them into the capes I've already completed.  Going forward I will use the machine and also add a centre-fold label along one of the seams.  Shouldn't be long now before I announce the online opening of Red Herring Road featuring my collection of wool herringbone capes :)

Cobourg Photo Shoot

This week Jenny sent over photos she took for me last month of my red cape at the Cobourg farmhouse.  It was a last-minute "photo-shoot" before I had to leave, a huge favour from an artistic fellow crafter that I had met just that weekend.

I finally have some photos of this cape being worn by an actual person instead of just a dress form. Fabulous.  Thanks again Jenny - lovely pictures.  Too bad I had to model a wool cape in June though! Full-length jeans and leather boots would have paired so much nicer with the cape than capris :)

Wondering how to show off the lining here

Thanks Meg for making me laugh and distracting me so that "modelling" wasn't so darn awkward

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 :)

Little Red Riding Bonnet

Making baby clothes is so much fun!  The projects don't require much fabric so your scraps are perfect...plus they don't take nearly as long to make as adult clothes.  Sometimes I can whip up something over the course of just two or three good baby naps.  The downside is that babies outgrow clothes so darn quickly...and sewing sleeves for a tiny shirt can get pretty finicky.

Here's a new red bonnet that I just finished for little Delia who will be twelve months old by the time this post is published.  :D My fingers are crossed that the little bonnet will fit.  It certainly does on Adam who is three months younger which sort of concerns me.  I actually Googled "head circumference for babies" and one site said that growth slows down after the first six months.  By one year the average circumference is about 18".  Hm....I think Adam's head is already at 18.5" :O  But then again it's hard to take a head measurement for a squirmy baby so it could have just as easily been 16.5" with all of his bouncing and hand waving.

Here's another shot of the hat with the inner lining in focus.  I used this fabric for Lily's dress last year and Grace's flat cap earlier this summer.  See what I mean about scraps coming in handy?  It works so well with this red wool that came from an old skirt belonging to Mike's grandmother.

I had some leftover black piping lying around which was just long enough for a floral detail on the side of the bonnet.  I have a thing for using piping or binding to create floral detailing.  I've used binding in this manner for several past projects including my green wool skirt and ribbon shirt.  The first time was on my Boxing Day shirt.  It can be a bit time consuming but really worth the effort.

Well I was just about to post some cute photos of Adam with this bonnet on but Mike vetoed it because he said the hat makes Adam look like a little girl.  He was just trying it on for Delia! No big deal, right?  Oh well.  I can save the photos for Adam's wedding slideshow to be presented some day far into the future ;)  I don't know which of the two will be more horrified.

Scottish Piping

Okay, so from the title of this post you might think I'm going to blog about the Scottish bagpipes but what I'm actually referring to is Scottish wool and red piping!  I finally gathered up the courage to cut into this beautiful blue Scottish wool that my mother-in-law gave me last year.  There wasn't quite enough to make the full design of this dress (which should have a collar and dainty short sleeves) but I made the most of it.  In fact the piece of fabric was not quite long enough for this dress so I had to add a 3-inch strip to the hem.  Luckily I remembered to keep enough length in the red piping so that the extra hem line in the wool looks more like a detail that was put there intentionally.  It took two painful attempts before the "invisible zipper" at the back of the dress was no longer glaringly visible but it was well worth the effort.

This flattering dress pattern is definitely one that I will use again since it typically takes several iterations before I can get something to fit right.  Now that I have the proper measurements it should be much easier to get through the next variation of this design.

Green Wool Skirt

Mike's grandmother Joan (who donated her Singer Featherweight to us) has been supplying me with all sorts of fantastic sewing supplies including fabric.  She started a beautiful long wool skirt for herself many many years ago but never quite finished it.  Since then she has given up sewing and passed on some of her unfinished projects to me in case I wanted to re-use the fabric for something new.

I had been holding onto her wool skirt for a number of months not knowing quite what to do with it when I finally decided to try it on recently and was amazed at how well it fit around the waist!  In fact it felt like it had been created just for me.  Instead of taking the skirt apart, which would have been a definite shame, I was inspired to update the look so that it would be, well, more modern I suppose.

I shortened the hem which originally went down to about mid-calf on me (lower on Joan) so it now sits just above my knees. I also added black binding and ribbon to create roses and some detailing around the lapels to give the skirt a more chic look.  Finally I replaced the brown buttons on the lapels with black ones to match the ribbon and detailing.

Showing off the modified skirt to Joan

I've worn this skirt a few times to work now and have gotten plenty of compliments on it.  Joan was delighted to see that I had been able to make use of her abandoned project and I'm always excited to show her what I'm working on since she was the one who inspired my sewing hobby by putting that Featherweight into my hands.