Made By A Fabricista: Fall is here!

Fall is here, and I have been in a coat/cape mood lately! I have a few that I plan to make, however, this pattern was not in the plans. It was in my stash, but it wasn’t on my “must make” list. I wanted to make a coordinating set but I thought it might be a little too much with this print. Now, I absolutely love animal prints, don’t get me wrong. I am a sucker for them! When I saw this jacquard double knit I had to have it. Instead, I decided to make an easy, comfortable cape that I can wear casually or dressed up. This pattern and fabric were perfect!

The pattern I chose to make is McCall’s 8029. This cape has three designs that you can choose from. I chose to make view C. View C has a hood. All three views have a neck and front facing and a belt/tie. Now, if you are wanting to make a cape but would like something on the easy side, this is your cape! I didn’t realize just how easy this was prior to getting started. This cape has minimal sewing. It doesn’t even require a hem. Which, was good because my serger just happened to break down on me when I started sewing. However, I do prefer a more finished look, so I turned my neck and front facings (inside edges) under and sewed a simple single fold hem to avoid exposing the interfacing. As for interfacing, the neck and front facings are the only pieces interfaced. After sewing my neck and front facings on, I chose not to edgestitch around the hood and front opening. The pattern says to pin the hood and facing to the cape wrong sides together. Instead, I sewed them on right sides together. I then stitched 5/8 inch above the front, lower edges just across to the end of each front facing and trimmed close to the stitch line. I flipped the facing to the inside and just gave the whole hood and front opening a really good press. Same as you would do for a jacket or coat with a front facing. For the remainder of each front piece, I trimmed off 5/8 inch so it would be in line with the front facings.

The pattern instructions said to fold the belt wrong sides together and just edge stitch all around the edges of the belt. Since, I was going for a more finished look, I folded right sides together and left a small opening so I could turn the belt right side out and gave it a really good press. I did turn my neck and front facing (inside edges) under and sewed a simple single fold hem so the interfacing would not be visible.

This cape has four openings for you to slip the belt through; two in the front and two in back. The pattern instructions call the openings button holes, but says to stitch 1/18 inch around each opening and trim the inside close to the stitching, lol. Good thing, because my machine doesn’t make button holes this long and I don’t have the skill to make them by hand. If you do, then that would be a good way to get that finished look.

If you are looking for an easy cape pattern to try, this is it!

Until next time…

ADRIA SHANELLE | @AdriaShanelle

Made By A Fabricista: Liberty Snow Day

Hi everyone! While we’ve been blanketed with snow out here in Southeastern PA, I decided to conquer my fear of button holes and make NewLook pattern N6749. I was able to snag a few yards of the Jess + Jean print Liberty of London Tana Lawn for it. It’s always exciting when Fabric Mart is able to get Liberty fabrics in! I always make sure to grab some. Cutting into a beautiful piece of tana lawn is scary every time. The fabric is such good quality, I’m afraid to mess it up! I had to be extra careful as this is also the first directional pattern I’ve worked with. But one of my assistants made sure all of my pieces were laid correctly. Something I wanted to try out with this dress was finishing the inside seams using the overlock stitch on my domestic machine. Normally I would french seam, but it was nice to not have to worry about cutting seam allowance in half, sewing, trimming, flipping, and sewing again. Next time I would cut the seam allowance back before overlocking, but I thin...

Made By A Fabricista: Embracing Winter in Wool Boucle

As winter drags on, the cold weather is such a bummer to me and feeling uncomfortable and cold so often is rough. Meanwhile, I listened to a podcast all about how people in very northern countries deal better with the onset of dark, freezing winter with a radically different mindset of embracing the inevitable season by reframing the chill as refreshing and the opportunity to spend most time indoors as cozy. I can do that! I found a gorgeous, quintessential wool boucle suiting in black and white to make myself a luxurious outer layer while I’m outside attempting to embrace the sting of dry winter air… It’s kind of working. So classic, so chic! Wearing boucle is always an uptown move and I certainly do feel sophisticated in it. This black and white houndstooth combination feels especially Old Hollywood, and what a treat to make something with this! I sewed the Daphne Jacket from Vivian Shao Chen. There are no closures, and the shape is boxy and very easy to wear over multipl...

Made By A Fabricista: Sewing + Running

It’s not every day that I get to mix two of my favorite hobbies. Especially when one hobby is sewing and the other is running. You can’t sew and run at the same time, but, you can go running in something that you sewed! With this realization, I embarked on my first hobby-merging adventure. We’ve had some frigid temperatures in Pennsylvania this winter. Since I’m an outside, stroller-pushing runner, I bundle up my son and myself before I hit the road. The temperature feels 20 degrees warmer for outside runners than the outside air. For the children being pushed in the stroller though, it feels about 20 degrees colder. With these differences in temperature for each of us, layering is the only thing that ensures that we both stay perfectly warm. My running wardrobe has been lacking a warm top layer. My son’s wardrobe would also benefit from having another warm layer, so I knew pullovers were what I should make. Inspired by a name-brand ¼ button-down fleece pullover I saw,...

Fabric Mart Fabricistas

Search This Blog