FOUNDATIONS REVEALED COMPETITION ENTRY
Rose and Feather Cape
(click images to to enlarge)
Outline the story …
I was inspired by "Die Nachtigall|" by Theodor Storm. Characters I encounter in literature don’t stay in their place. They take up room in my fantasy and develop a life outside the story their author put them in. There is only piece of clothing mentioned, a summer hat. However, I always thought that maybe the girl was so enchanted by the song of the nightingale, she stayed up all night to listen to it. And for the next night she would stay up, I wanted her to have a piece of clothing that matches the enraptured mood this poem gives me.
Have you ever stayed up longer than was good for you, watching what happens outside your window, wrapped in a warm blanket? I couldn’t give her a blanket, but a cape seemed like the next best thing. And my fantasy gave her a cape to match the poem. I decided on the American Duchess cape pattern, and my fantasy added roses and feathers to match the poem. Somehow, it seemed a good idea to make it two colored, the embellishment and the lining in dark night blue, and the outer part in a fabric I already had at home.
Outline the construction…
As the first mock-up showed me, my shoulders are wider than the mockup, so I cut the pattern apart, and did my best to tape it back together in a way that fit my shoulders . Don’t ask me to recreate that process. The second mock-up fit well I had this lovely light wool It doesn’t photograph well, but it is two colored, and with the way the cape falls, it’s marvelous. Its a mixture of a very dark, dusky pink and a light color. It was named 'shell', but the way it looks, it’s almost silvery. Because it was very light, I flatlined it with a cotton fabric, using rather large basting stitches. I tamboured on the roses. Let me tell you, a lightly fuzzy wool and a luneville hook is not a nice match. Further complication: the only embroidery help I have is a tiny hoop from my great grandma, diameter 15 cm. Once I finished with the back panel, I zig-zagged all edges, and sewed the seams and darts. I removed the basting stitches. Next problem: the 'arm parts' don’t have many seams or decorative stitching in them, so as soon as I removed the basting stitches, it started to sag and simply looked weird. Because time was rather short (4 hours till absolute deadline, and I had to write an exam in between), I put in sadly visible basting stitches again. Then, the lining got wipstitched with giant stitches to the outer shell.
I love it. Beautiful embroidery.
So pretty! The rose and feather 💜
The embroidery and the colour of the cape go together so well!
Very well done embroidery and the color palette is very elegant. Very nice job with the cape structure as well: it flows so nicely! Good luck with the competition!
You have done a great job. Enjoy your cape. 🙂
Lovely.
This is stunning, I love the embroidery! Well done 🙂
Beautiful embroidery! I love this cape so much! I will have to give AD pattern ago!
That is lovely work. Great colour and material choice. Well done with those soutache and embroidery details!
I love this! It’s really very well done! Fabulous embroidery. Thank you!
Love the color, floral designs, and texture of the fabric. Very cool statement cape. I feel like so many of my friends would love to wear this!
I absolutely adore the embroidery, well done!