The Crafty Side of Life: Procrastination - "The" 18th century red cape

Because if you need to make a 19th century ballgown bodice, you are actually making an 18th century cape, right? Perfectly logical.

What happened that the traditional year end's reenactor's skating party was became a beginning of the year's skating event, and though I had some really great plans, answering the age old question of what to wear, timewise I just could not manage it, but I needed to wear something. However my reanactment wardrobe is not really winter-compatible. Most of the outside events are held in late spring, summer, early fall, if we do have something in the winter, they are indoor.

So hight time I started doing something about that, right? Back, when I first took part in a play, that the acting group of our foundation put up, back in 2017, I needed to run out for something, and I got loaned a cape. I loved it and I wanted a cape ever since.

I knew the red capes for all the fashion through the 18th century and the early 19th century, but for some reason I didn't wanted a red one... I really have no idea why, but I remember saying I do not want a red one... probably I would've preferred a blue one? Up until the moment I found a big piece of thick wool in the ILT store (kind of a fabric outlet, I keep mentioning them, because I get most of my fabrics from them), maybe back in 2018 or 2019. Its been damaged at the edges, oily dirt and few cm long tears on one edge, but it was so cheap, and there was enough of it even this way, so I got it, thinking I would still have more than enough for a generous cape even if I cut the edge off.

I had that fabric for years, and it was so thick and such a big piece, that no matter how I tried to fold it, I could not fit it into any place I otherwise keep fabric. So it lived on the end of my sofa. Yes, I don't really use that sofa, except for surface collecting.. all kinds of stuff. However that piece of fabric kept dust there, sometimes I've put it over to the other edge, somethimes thinkig I should do something with it...

Over these years I did researched these red capes, checked the pictures, the patterns that are available over the internet, consulted the sewing groups about the best approach. Should it be half circle? a full circle? Somewhere in between? (The fabrick is thick and has a nice weight, so a half circle should do, otherwise my back would break). Cut from one piece? (most patterns are pieced, especially because fabrics were narrower back then). Does it have a slitfor arms? (No). What about the hood? The pictures I've seen had this lovely fan saped pleats on the back of the hood, how was it made? How was it attached to the cape?

And now, I said the time is here, the fastest solution to my "what to wear to the skating event" was to finally make that cape.

Opening the fabric, I found that not only the edges are damadged, but also the insides have... lets call them damages. Tiny, things, that could very well be that same thing that damaged the edges, or could have been moths, or something else, but there were still huge pieces intact, I just have to be clever.

Out went the "oh-I-have-enough-for-wahetever-I decide" and in came the let's make the best of this. Piecing is period, and in most of my searches, this pattern came up, so I went with this as a base, but I winged the exact sizing and the shape of the hood.

Since I was rushing with the sewing, I forgot to make pictures, so you have to make do with the finished pictures.

The two long seam was sewn with the machine, but hand...felled (?) doen to prevent fraying.

The bottom edge was also hand sewn:

I decided to make the hood detachable, so without it I can use the cape for earlier periods.

I am still not sure that these small buttons are the best solution, but for the first day they worked well.

Unfortunately, there is not many types of hooks one can get here (and ordering from E-bay became much more difficult and much more expensive lately), so I had to do with the one I did managed to get. However I took of the original manmade leather tag it wanted me to sew on (cause I put a stitch or two in it, it will break right away) and chaged it to a growgrain ribbon I folded in half to make it even stronger. Umm actually dug into my boxes of ribbons, found a piece of red velvet ribbon, cut a piece of it scalded the edges agains fraying, put it into the ring, though, it would be better if I doubled it up, went back for another, longer piece, but could not find the roll. Not in either of the boxes. Dissapeared. Completely. Totally. Dunno where. Thankfully, after almost braking down crying over ~~spilt milk~~ lost ribbons, I found the growgrain which seems even stronger than the velvet. Good.

The hood is lined with silk. I had a red silk shirt, I brought back from Miami, back in the nineties. I didn't use it for decades now, but I never trew it out. It is SILK, after all. Then, when I got the red fabric for the cape I figured, it would be cool to line the hood with that silk. So the silk shirt joined the red fabric to be put around every few months, waiting to fulfill its faith. As it happened, I could just managed to cut the lining out of the two sides qith one seam going down in the middle (which used to be the side seam of the shirt, but then again, piecing IS period. )

Once again, the two long seam, that closes the hood at the two long edges were done by machine, the rest (tucking down the hood's edge, arranging and fixing the pleats on the back, closing the hood's back was done by hand.

By then I figured that I will add the hood to a small round collar, that one seam was also done by machine. The bias tape I used to cover the seam was cut out of the sleeve of that shirt, and tacked down by hand, so was handsewn the edge of the small collar.