Vintage Cape for Tildy (+friend)

How cute is this?

Another piece of material from my Melbourne trip...

A gorgeous piece of cashmere blend coating, $12/m.

I wanted 4 metres to make matching capes for the two little girls. There was only 2.3 on the roll, so I grabbed it all.
With some serious ninja cutting I got both capes cut.

Cape from Witchery, no longer available online.

The inspiration?
A gorgeous cape from Witchery

The pattern was purchased from eBay.
It was printed in 1967 in South Africa, only the one size, a six, which is pretty standard with vintage pattern.
Tildy measures a 5 in the chest so I was confident it would fit and with Trixie coming through, not that bothered if it didn't fit for long.

The fabric was very, very thick, even with grading the seams it gave my semi-industrial machine a real work out.
I added the epaulettes once finished. I sewed them by machine and then hand sewed them in place. I made to sure to work buttons holes, cut them and sew the buttons to the cape.
I read  *somewhere* that that is the secret to a well finished garment.
The buttons are a vintage filigree , it is hard to see but they are hollow and very pretty.  I did purchase some military style ones but Tildy liked these better and I think she was right!

The pattern instructed you to hand sew the lining to the facing edge (?) and let it hang loose but I channelled Nana Deb and bagged the lining.
There was a wee gap at the bottom of the facing once bagged but I turned and hand sewed that in place.

The cape has welt pockets to pop your hands through.
After finishing the garment you are instructed to slash the lining and hand sew it to the welt.

I did apply interfacing to the wrong side of the lining before sewing but I was still whooping myself.
Cutting into a finished garment was a bit scary.

I cut and pinned and hoped....

And it worked!

I lined the coat with some luscious, copper coloured, stretch satin (also from Eliza's $7/m) and I added a cm back vent for ease.
I much prefer stretch fabrics as a lining when using them with wool as wool has a nature 'give' and the lining can split.

I was pretty jolly pleased.
It styles really well as a smart, casual look which is what we were after.

Plenty long enough with out being costume like.

Tilly rocks it!

The hand holes are just the right height.
For play, Tilly undid all but the top buttons and let it fly behind her. She was able to tackle the play ground most satisfactorily in that fashion.

~Tildy's Verdict~
I  absolutely love the lining!
The hand-holes are perfect.
The pattern on the button is gorgeous.
It is amazing because it almost works with anything.
I gave it to my friend because I thought it would be nice and  knew mum would make me another one.

~In Conclusion~
I made this cape with an event in mind. We were travelling to Victoria to meet up with a dear friend from overseas. I originally planned to sew matching capes for Tilly and my friends daughter but I was ill and ran out of time.
The cape was a bit of a hit with my friend and her daughter and Tilly wondered if she could give it to her...
I promised her another and she happily handed it over.
Very proud of my sweet girl.
Interestingly enough, she has requested a grey one next with leather toggle buttons. Obviously not too distressed at handing hers on.

Thanks for reading 

xx N