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:








I especially adore the standing collar of this 1819 version!


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!