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.

Lining for Compass Cloak

Since I can't seem to do anything the simple way.......  I decided the lining for the cloak needed some embellishment - pinking to be precise.  I cut the lining out of the taffeta and white cotton for the peek through fabric.  I sewed the shoulder seams on the taffeta, pinned the shoulder seams together,  then basted through all four layers (right front the back folded in half and the left front).  Using an exacto knife I cut out the pinking pattern through all four layers at once.  I turned my cutting mat upside down for the pinking step.  After finishing with the cutting, I removed the basting threads.  Next step was to sew the shoulder seams on the white cotton.  Then I layered the white cotton with seams down with the burgundy taffeta on top and carefully lined up the neckline, center front, and hem.  I pinned all over then used a double needle to stitch parallel rows between the cuts.  The stitching at the center front and center back is vertical.  Since the cloak is not a full circle, the stitching changes angle at the shoulder seams.

To continue with the I can't keep it simple theme... I decided I needed pockets.  Patch pockets would have been too easy!  First I made a pattern about 11 inches wide with the top fold on the diagonal and the bottom edges angled to match the corner of the center front and bottom hem.  I cut it out to pink flannel  - because that is what I had in the fabric stash and stitched a piece of  the taffeta over the area that would be visible through the pocket opening.  Then I made two welts and marked a 1" wide box in the center of each.  I placed the welts on the right side of the lining and stitched around the box.  Then the pocket was laid out flat right side to right side of lining over welt.  From the wrong side of the lining, I stitched through all layers following the stitching lines of the box in the center of the welt.  I carefully cut down the center of the box and towards each corner, pulled the pocket to the inside and pressed.  I lifted the edges of the welt and topstitched the opened pocket to the lining in an area that would be hidden when the welt was topstiched down.  With the pocket still flat, I topstiched around the bottom and sides of the welt.  Turning to the wrong side, I pinned the edges of the pocket together and stitched the pocket closed.  Turning back to the right side, I topstitched the top of the welt down. 

Embellished lining was finished - next step was to attach to the cloak.

Compass Cloak

I thought that I had plenty of the burgundy wool to make the Clarice bodice, sleeves, split front skirt and a cloak.  Well.....as, I discovered when I cut out the skirt...I was so wrong!  And since I bought the fabric several years ago on clearance getting more was not an option.  Time for a new plan.  I decided to use a compass rose design with spokes to designate the 4 cardinal directions - North, South, East, West - and 4 more spokes to designate the NE, ....I cut the pattern out of an a piece of moth eaten wool as a base that will not be seen when the cloak is complete.  Then I basted eight wedges of the burgundy wool around the hem of the base fabric.

For the spokes I used a burgundy taffeta that also came with pin tucks. Each spoke is lined so that there is a finished edge to stitch down.  For the four smallest spoke pieces indicating NE, SW... I ran the pin tucks vertically.  Here is the cloak with the with the four smallest spokes being pinned in place.

The center front will have its spoke split.

All spokes are pinned on covering my moth-eaten wool.  The spokes are stitched down and I am contemplating trim options.  The lining will be burgundy taffeta without pin tucks that I am contemplating pinking in a simple geometric pattern. The collar is cut out but not yet stitched.  I re-cut the neckline opening after applying the spokes.