dirty doz: wool cape aka: the jellyfish

cape! plaid! candy colors! immediate strange nickname! what's not to love? so at long last this is the mysterious project i finished a month ago and literally didn't have a chance to document until this past weekend. first it was sandy, then it was a nor'easter and then we were gone three weekends (the only time both db my fabulous photographer and the sun are around at the same time) in a row. i'm honestly in a little bit of shock this is the 11th project i've started and completed in 2012. i just have to finish ONE more and i will have destroyed my new year's goal. kind of unbelievable.

so this was a really fast project once i got around to starting it. i banged it out in two days while watching foreign and/or 60s movies, i recommend Mademoiselle. anyways, this is a children's pattern and i made size 9/10 and still had to shorten it, people really like their kids being warm apparently. i added lots of little details not called for in the pattern which is a first, does this mean i'm getting better at sewing? hopefully. i pinked the seams and sewed them down so the inside looks nice, double seamed at the hem, topstitched on either side of the front and back center seams and put a little x at the bottom of the front opening so it won't pull. lastly and my favorite, i cut out the center hood panel on the bias so it would have a cool diagonal look instead of just being plaid gridded to death. the pattern called for toggles but as my dad can attest, i'm never going to fasten it so what's the point? i also made the hood about 1" deeper at the top because 1- i don't have a child sized head and 2- my hair tends to be enormous. just look at that hood! it's what caped dreams are made of!

it came with me to france and i wore it around paris, it was perfect. it's official, capes are fun! it even spins well, i'm not the only one that did 'the spin test' when trying on dresses as a little girl right? too bad i didn't find the perfect pattern years ago at the start of the hunt so i could've been rocking a cape all along. worth the wait though, this pattern is great and i'm totally using it again.

-details-
pattern: new look maudella 6028 (uk)
fabric: dorr woolen mills - 6811 oatmeal background w/peach & mint plaid