Enfys Nest cape

I have finished another piece for Enfys Nest. In my last post about the cape I had made a pattern and cut out the lining. Click here for that part.

After the lining I ordered the outer fabric. I picked a black wool broadcloth. It's one of the cheapest on the Swedish market, and I would definitely not use it for historical costumes. It shed quite a lot of colour, it's piling and I have black fluff from it everywhere. It's perfect for the worn look of a space pirate though. The problem with the pattern though was that it was made for a fabric that was 150 cm wide, and the wool was 135. I solved it by turning the fabric, but it definitely led to some fabric waste.

Below are my main references for the cape.

Once I had cut out the pieces I sewed the outer fabric together and I attached the lining and the outer fabric by sewing them together at the neck. I then pinned the seams together so that the fabric wouldn't shift and I added a facing of the outer fabric to the edges and to the neck.

The facing at the edges is slipstitched to the lining. For the neck I sewed it by machine, it's not going to be visible anyway. After that I hemmed the whole cape. The original cape doesn't have a deep hem or hem facing, so I simply folded the lining and outer fabric towards each other and then slipstitched them in place.

Along the edges there is also a strip of fabric. I think it's suede so I used the same faux suede that I will use for her long tabards.

It's sewn on by machine at the front, since the reference photo has a clear seam line in the middle of the facing. I used light coloured thread for the upper thread and black thread for the underspool.

The other side of the suede strip was folded down and slipstitched in place.

This is the inside of the finished cape.

This is the outside of the finished cape. The suede is a lot darker in real life, it really picks upp the light when I try to photograph it.

This is the cape hanging on my mannequin. A very big advantage with this style of cape, rather than a cape that is just gathered at the neck, is that it hangs naturally from the shoulders. Of course it will be different when I move, but it will make it a lot easier to attach it to the rest of the costume, when the attachment won't have to carry the full weight.

I also just tested to throw my fur on over the cape. The original costume used buffalo hide, from the front of the buffalo. I don't have access to any buffalos so I have bought an icelandic sheepskin with long hair.