Completing the Compass Cloak

In previous posts, I have shown how the right side and the lining of the compass cloak were made....  Now to put it all together!

The bottom border is a 5" wide bias strip of taffeta.  I laid it on my cutting mat, placed one ruler 1.25" in from one long edge and cut perpendicularly into the strip at 2" intervals using the other ruler as a stop so I ended up with something that looked like an exaggerated fringe.  On the right side of the cloak, I placed the border strip with the cut side facing the center and the uncut side hanging about 1" over the bottom hem.  I pinned it all down at the hem, then I took each cut section and twisted it twice and pinned it down.  Then I ran a row of basting stitches a the bottom and the top of the slashes through the right side of the cloak.  I stitched down a gold trim over the top of the twisted trim.

The collar is made from one layer of pin-tucked taffeta (right side), wool interlining, and plain taffeta for the lining.  The next step was to sandwich the collar between the right side of the cloak and the lining (add a ribbon loop at the center back for hanging), stitch up the center front opening, around the neck edge, back down the other center front, trim, turn, and press.
I laid the cloak lining side up on the floor, did a little trimming at the hem to make the pieces match, pinned them together, stitched the bottom row of trim though the front and lining to anchor the sections together, turned under the edge of the 5" bias edge trim to the lining side, pinned down and hand stitched to finish.



The final touch was to stitch down two metal clasps for closure at the center front.  And since no outfit is complete without cat hair....  as you can see in the detail below, my cat helped out also!

 Finally a photo with one front section turned back to see the pinked lining and the pocket.