Polka Dot Cape - Vogue 8959

Several weeks ago the weather in Chicago went from 70 degrees to 35 in the space of several days and has stayed there! Brrrrrrrrrr!! With jackets, coats and capes on my mind...

Back view on my balcony

I saw this great fabric 'Mystery Spot Coating' on Marcy Tilton website and I just had to have it! It made smile and I kept going back to look at it. The first time I saw it, I immediately thought that would be a super FUN cape or cloak. That thought never left my mind :) So. I had to buy some of it!
I don't usually like to acquire fabrics that are Poly based. Partly because they tend to be hot and sticky and partly because they take an extremely long time to break down in landfills.

For a fun and quirky cape it fit the bill and I am keeping my fingers crossed that the fiber is high quality and that there is no pilling. Only time will tell!

Side view, I LOVE the silhouette of this cape!

Once I placed the order for the fabric I was thinking about drafting a cape from my master patterns. Lat minute I looked through my patterns and there was Vogue 8959 A very Easy Vogue pattern. Instead of drafting from scratch I just used this as a starting place. I made some changes in the fit and the length and in the interior design.

Front view

I dithered about whether or not to underline the cape with cotton flannel and decided that I wanted to keep this as a fall and spring garment. There is also plenty of room underneath to bundle up with a heavy sweater. I have worn this out several times and am quite comfortable until we hit down around the 30 degree mark with wind.

For the lining I used a cotton shirting that I had in my fabric closet and used this. It is a perfect complement to the cape and because it is not slippery it doesn't slide around on my shoulders and more importantly doesn't slide back and choke me! That really isn't a good feature of any type of clothing!

Clockwise from top left- Lining, action twirling shot :),
 Inside patch pocket and close up of the arm slits and trim.

Changes in fit:
1. I changed the shape of the shoulder at the side seams. Flattened them out a bit.
2. I moved the arm slits up about 2 inches to be more comfortable and put them in a more natural place for my body.
3. I changed the length to halfway-ish between the short and medium length. They must have made this very a very tall model!

Top are the zippered grosgrain welt pocket.
Bottom- patch pocket and arm slits

Design changes:
1. I added 2 interior pockets. 1 is a very simple patch pocket big enough to hold my small wallet or iPhone or tissues, etc... (BTW... I can easily wear a small cross body purse underneath with no problem and you dont even see it!)
2. An inside grosgrain welt zipper pocket for my transit card or cash or whatever needs to be held super safe and secure!
3. The lining. The pattern had the lining hanging loose. Which is quite ridiculous, In my opinion, for a cape such as this. So I lined it to the edge and am very happy with this decision.
4. I added trim. I used the very cool selvedge of the fabric for trim around the outer edge of the cape, the front opening and the collar.
5. I used 5 extra large covered snaps for a closure.the pattern calls for a single button for the longer versions. Maybe because they were trying to keep this as a Very Easy rating or maybe because they designer was not envisioning this being used to walk around a city in. Who knows! and frankly... who cares! I make it the way I want it.

Close up of trim, under collar and snaps.

This was a fairly easy project. Everything went together easily, I did not use the pattern instructions.
The longest part of this project was sewing on the darn trim! I purposely only sewed on half of the snaps so that I would not be tempted to just say to heck with the trim. The things we do to keep ourselves on track. I brought the project with me to the Sarah Veblen choose your own focus workshop last weekend and a couple of the evenings Sarah and I both sat and worked on hand sewing the trim together while we caught up with each other. It was such a pleasant time to sit and sew with such a great friend :)

One more shot... Just for fun!

I have enough fabric left over to make a coat for the Princess! She will look adorable in those giant hairy polka dots!

This weekends escapades took us to the Shedd Aquarium! Self groupie shot out front!

Some days you just need to sew!

With my blogging hiatus and my back up of posts things may be a little all over the place! kind of like life can be...

I moved back in May and have a place of my own and a wonderful new place to sew... Yes, I will do a proper introduction of my sewing space soon! Once, I was all settled in, I just felt like I just needed to sew. You know that feeling, the act of preparing fabric, planning the details, cutting it out and construction. By the time construction starts the process is almost completed! It just feels good to have your hands on something and before you know it... a new dress or two!

I went to a good old standby for this project, I didn't want to really think about too much. I pulled out a couple of knits and decided I could use a couple more wrap dresses. They are so dang versatile! They are great to wear while traveling, they take up such a small amount of space in the suitcase and you still look put together and smartly dressed.

2 new Appletons and one new topper, Marcy Tilton Vogue 8975. I almost never just sew up a pattern from the envelope. I almost always go back to my master pattern and re-draft for the design therefore insuring a great fit for my body. This was a total exception! It is such a weird pattern and there was not an easy way to look at it and ascertain how the puzzle of pattern pieces fit together. So I took my measurements and went for the corresponding pattern size and hoped for the best! One of these crazy toppers are enough for my wardrobe.

See what I mean...
that line drawing doesn't make any sense and the construction order is crazy.
Part of the side panels is attached to the sleeve and things just are weird...
Somehow it all works out!

One Appleton was done for summer, with short sleeves and a slimmer silhouette. The knit is also a lighter weight so feels great to wear in the heat. The accompanying topper makes it equally as comfortable in the summer indoor air conditioning. The Fabric for both the dress and the topper came from Fabrications in western Michigan. A lovely shop run by an even lovelier couple!

Bad hotel room selfies in the mirror!

This one shows the colors much better!

The second Appleton is the first of my fall sewing and has several modifications to it
1- I added a center back seam and took out a closed wedge. I did this because this is a beefier knit and I did not want the fabric to blouse out or bunch up. I wanted a smooth line from nape of my neck to the base of my spine.
2- I added width to the skirt to make it more full. This gives it a bit of a fit and flare look.
3- Addition of in-seam pockets. I love having pockets and miss them when I don't. So, I finally got my butt in order and added a set of pockets.
4- I added a ruffle or more accurately 'easy pleated trim' This was inspired from a Mary Ray day long seminar I took back in January. The technique she used was on a woven and I think cut on the bias. For mine I just cut 1 1/4 inch wide strips on the grain. I did a practice run to make sure I liked the technique and to see if I could easily do it. Heck yeah! It's the easiest thing to do. I just laid the dress down and sewed while I used my fingers to tuck the fabric at fairly even intervals under the presser foot. I did this all around the front edge. I started on the underlap side just about an inch below where it wraps over (to keep from having to much fabric bunched up under the overlap) and I sewed around the band and down the center front to the hem. Pleated and attached all in one go!

This fabric was a gift to me from a special sewing friend! I'm so glad she likes what I made!!

Applied 'easy pleated trim' It really just makes the garment pop!
Added in-seam pockets.

No pictures of me in this one yet.
 I love that the print is random enough that you can't tell there is a center back seam unless you really stare at it!

Sewing up those 2 garments really got my sewjo back into high gear!!

 Happy Sewing!!

Princess V and Me!