How to make a cape

Once I start something, I get a bit obsessive about finishing it. I've somehow managed to finish my cape today. It turned out so much better than expected. I can't believe how well it's turned out, actually.

So as I said in my last post. I made up a pattern piece myself and cut out the body of the cape in the blue fabric and the pink lining. Then I sewed them together. Here is the cape with the lining sewn in:

Next I made up the pattern for the hood, which I was worried about as I'd never made one before. I looked up the dimensions of a newborn baby's head and oversized it a bit but it ended up being a little smaller than I intended but it should still fit a baby's head okay, it just isn't as roomy as I wanted it to be. I firstly cut the shape out really roughly then I tacked it together and turned it inside out, then I trimmed it to the right shape so it wasn't too much of a cone shaped hood and made sure it lined up with the neckline of the cape. I was surprised how well it fitted. Here you can see the rough shapes I cut out for the hood:

Next I stitched together the blue main fabric and the pink lining as I did with the body of the cape. Even though I didn't really need too I turned it inside out so all the raw edges were enclosed so it would look neater on the inside. Here are both sides of the hood with the lining sewn in:

Next I set about making the hood. Pretty simple, just stitched up the two sides and turned it inside out. You can see the finished hood here:

Next I stitched the hood to the cape. As I'd lined both the cape and hood, I just straight forwardly stitched it on as I didn't need to enclose all raw edges. I'll save the picture for a minute. Next I decided to but my ric-rac on the hood rather than the sides of the cape as I thought it would look better, and I think that was a good decision. I think it looks really effective on the hood. I stitched it on really carefully because things like this drive me nuts if they're not perfectly symmetrical. I used a pink thread and used really small stitches so it's really hard to see from the outside. Here you can see it being stitched on:

Then I just stitched the ribbon on to the cape so you can tie a nice bow to keep it secure. 

And hey presto! It's finished! 

Okay, it needs a bit of ironing but it was quite late at night when I finished it and I was so excited I just had to take the photos and write up my blog! I'm so happy with it. I think it's probably my favourite thing I've ever made. It's entirely hand stitched because I really hate using sewing machines. I find it much more relaxing to hand sew, but that does mean it's not quite as durable but that's okay because I won't be using it. It's just a nice pretty thing to say I made, and maybe it'll make a nice wedding outfit or something if I ever have a baby.

So I'm really happy with this piece. It's not quite as lovely as the original costume (see two posts ago) I was working from but I really like how it turned out. It's been really nice to sit sewing all day. 

Watch this space for a new project! 

Thanks for reading.