Another quick-sew to use up some fabric lying around my studio; I made a reversible red and blue bubble cape with hood and yoke. Some subtle red paisley lining fabric leftover from one of Jake’s earlier jerkins seemed like it would make a good red cape of cloak. A red cape with a large hood is a handy thing to have in one’s costume arsenal, and I did not yet possess one.
Whatever this cape would be lined with would be highly visible, so I decided right away to make the whole thing totally reversible. I considered using a black or another red fabric for the other side of the cape to keep with a more traditionally Gothic look. Classic color combinations like black and red are versatile and a safe bet.
But I did not have enough of an alternative red or black fabric already in my bins, so no matter my choice, I would need to buy another cut of fabric for the second side. Further consideration of the handful of black cloaks and cover-ups that I already own made me lean towards something more bold and different. I think that it was actually Jake that suggested I look for a blue, maybe navy, and with that in mind I went shopping.
While at Osgood’s, my now local fabric emporium, I picked up a handful of navy blue linens before discovering this absolutely fantastic, creamy blue taffeta. It was on a discounted dress-cuts table pre-cut to the 2 7/8 yards that I needed. This is easily the nicest taffeta I have ever worked with. It feels amazing on the hand, the needle goes through it like butter, and it provides the thinner red half of the cape with more structure and volume.
Yes, it is a little shiny to the camera, and a flash does it no justice, but in person it is stunning. A dream to work with, it was so easy to keep this fabric lined up perfectly for crisp cuts, and my scissors and pins really loved working with this fabric too. It’s been a long time since I’ve worked in something of this quality, and yet I got it for $2/yard on clearance.
It is difficult to see how nice and roomy the hood is on a mannequin with no head, so you’ll have to take my word that it is over-sized and elegant. It was important to me that this cape be unisex, which was easily achieved with this baggy look. I cut the yoke to be fitted on wide shoulders and voluminous on narrow ones.
The body of the cape is rounded at the elbows and looks like a bubble when closed around arms to support it. The closure is two lengths of 550-cord sewn into the seams of the yoke so that it looks the same from either side.
Neither of the cape fabrics are particularly warm; in fact I imagine that both would let a breeze through, so this might be a nice cape for the early fall, or even some summer days to shield the wearer from the sun. I don’t imagine that either fabric would hold up in the rain unfortunately. The next cape that I make in this style, I should consider making in something water-resistant. This style cape would make a great rainy-day accessory.
