Black and Purple Felt Cloak Chapter Two (Back Post)
Picking up the Black and Purple Cloak from Chapter One here.
Chapter Two starts with Part Three.
Drape the cloak over their shoulders and focus on getting a god closure around just above the collar bones. This is where I like having my closures I think it is the best location for keeping warm.
The fold here is going to be cut at the fold of the top of the collar there. That will trim off the excess, while leaving a collar for the neck.
Now before you remove the model, chalk a line around the top (where the fold is) this way you can remove the pins for the cut. I am always terrified of cutting a pin with my shears so I always remove them first.
Now you should have something like this!!
Cutting that flap off will get you to this
The most important part about bag lining is making your seams as flat as possible. Otherwise you will have bulky seam and in the case of this double felt cloak super bulky seams.
I really recommend sewing the neck lines together first. This is closest to your face and will be the most visible part. Also the not sewed up hole to reverse it should be on the bottom. Probably near the back, but really put it on once you've stitched the neck and sides and see where it is most gathered and will be most hidden.
After sewing together the neckline you need to flatten the seams. You'll have something similar to this...
The trick to really knocking out these flat seams is to use as much steam as possible and immediately to weigh down the seam for 5 - 10 minutes. I used some old textbooks we had lying around. This means your ironing is going to take much longer than usual.
Please don't skimp out on this, really crisp these seams, and let them sit until they are fully set. You'll really be rewarded for your patience in this.
After you've sewn everything together, ironed all of the seams, waited on all of the seams, you should be left with this.
All of the nasty edges facing out at you and somewhere hidden, a 'pocket' large enough to turn this whole huge thing inside out. Even two years later I remember what a pain it was to turn this huge cloak inside out from this tiny hole.
After you've completed that trial, go ahead and fold the unsewn edges into the cloak and sew the new, not raw edges together to complete the bag.
At long last you've got a cloak. All in all this actually isn't too time consuming of a project. Almost all of the stitches that go into it are long, straight lines.
All my love,
Erin
Chapter Two starts with Part Three.
Part Three: Neckline
The next thing to be done is to make this oddly shaped piece of fabric fit a human. That point at the top has to go. So, conscript either the person this is being made for or a person of similar shoulder structure. I do not recommend a dress form for this application because they don't have arms. This part is about fitting this to the whole shoulder/arm/neck structure and they just are not a great replacement here.Drape the cloak over their shoulders and focus on getting a god closure around just above the collar bones. This is where I like having my closures I think it is the best location for keeping warm.
 |
| Pin 'em up! |
Now before you remove the model, chalk a line around the top (where the fold is) this way you can remove the pins for the cut. I am always terrified of cutting a pin with my shears so I always remove them first.
Now you should have something like this!!
 |
| The best part about a dress form is being able to pin stuff to it. |
Cutting that flap off will get you to this
 |
| If you look you can see the change in angle at the top that makes the collar |
Part Four: Sewing it together
I decided to bag line this cloak. Which is wear you sew the edges almost together across almost the entire project except for a pocket large enough to turn the whole thing inside out through (be careful with this, too small and you'll have to rip and resew).The most important part about bag lining is making your seams as flat as possible. Otherwise you will have bulky seam and in the case of this double felt cloak super bulky seams.
I really recommend sewing the neck lines together first. This is closest to your face and will be the most visible part. Also the not sewed up hole to reverse it should be on the bottom. Probably near the back, but really put it on once you've stitched the neck and sides and see where it is most gathered and will be most hidden.
After sewing together the neckline you need to flatten the seams. You'll have something similar to this...
When we want this!
 |
| And this is a half and half. |
The trick to really knocking out these flat seams is to use as much steam as possible and immediately to weigh down the seam for 5 - 10 minutes. I used some old textbooks we had lying around. This means your ironing is going to take much longer than usual.
Please don't skimp out on this, really crisp these seams, and let them sit until they are fully set. You'll really be rewarded for your patience in this.
After you've sewn everything together, ironed all of the seams, waited on all of the seams, you should be left with this.
All of the nasty edges facing out at you and somewhere hidden, a 'pocket' large enough to turn this whole huge thing inside out. Even two years later I remember what a pain it was to turn this huge cloak inside out from this tiny hole.
After you've completed that trial, go ahead and fold the unsewn edges into the cloak and sew the new, not raw edges together to complete the bag.
At long last you've got a cloak. All in all this actually isn't too time consuming of a project. Almost all of the stitches that go into it are long, straight lines.
All my love,
Erin
 |
| I am pretty sure I sewed the clasp on while en route |
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