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Sonntag, 11. Oktober 2015

Winter is coming...






... so it is time to make something cosy and warm!

Back in January I made a muff from dark brown fake mink and fortunately had enough leftover to make something nice for the HSF September challenge #brown. I already used a leftover strip of the same material to finish my regency bonnet in June and I wanted to sew something, that could we worn with both the muff and the bonnet...

Since I have been drooling over some fashion plates showing shoulder capelets and tippets made of fur, I very much wanted to make my own set for the HSF September challenge brown.

My inspiration:

1814 (?) Morning Carriage Dress  (Look at the table leg!):






I especially adore the standing collar of this 1819 version!
Pelisse de velours garni de chinchilla! 1819 costume parisien:

My first thought was to just drape one piece of fabric around my shoulders and that's it. But to have all that hair facing downwards a one-piece item wouldn't work for me. Also, there wasn't enough fabric to make it without any seams.

After browsing through my bookcase I found some instructions for pelerines and capes in Frances Grimble's "Lady's Stratagem". Most of the patterns were half circles and therefore not of much use for my fur. I made my attempts based on a pattern for a mantle p. 362. My final pattern pieces had a slightly different shape, but since I was merely going to match the shape of the capes in the fashion plates, it didn't really matter.

My testpiece

I cut four pieces to achieve the wanted look with all hair facing downwards. Since the centre back seam is straight, I cut the cotton velvet lining in one piece for the back and two for the fronts. My idea was to have the possibility to wear it inside-out to match the outer fabric of my bonnet.

The entire cape is also interlined with a layer of polyestre batting to make it even warmer. For the standing collar I used a buckram interlining as well as the batting. Horsehair would have been the appropriate choice, but was nowhere to be found in my stash...

The challenge details:
Colourchallenge brown

I am a little late with my blog post, but my item was finished in time a fortnight ago.

Fabric: dark brown fake mink, cotton velvet
Pattern: Self drafted. Loosely based on descriptions in Frances Grimbles "Lady's Stratagem"
Year: around 1815
Notions: polyestre batting, buckram, threat
How historically accurate is it? It is fake fur and polyestre batting, so not very accurate. The shape however is quite ok.
Hours to complete: around 5
First worn: not yet
Total cost: All notions together 55€. I also made a tippet, a muff and a bonnet fron the same material, so it's somewhat less.

Pictures!



Since I still had some scraps after finishing the cape, I made a tippet sewing some scrap rectangles of fur together...

 



 



Inside-out
 




I've been wearing the cape nearly every morning for the last two weeks now and it really is keeping me warm. Love it!





fashion plate