So I had this pattern laying around after buying it at Joann’s while it was on sale. I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to do with it since at the moment I had no desire to make a cloak. Then my mom decided that she both wanted to learn how to sew and how to make a cloak so of course this pattern came in handy for that purpose. I had my mom pick out the materials she wanted to make her cloak out of and while they aren’t really HA they did come out looking really nicely.
The cloak we ended up making was kind of a mix of both the C and D versions the pattern provided. We actually ended up making two cloaks because the pattern was really very simple to use. The pattern consists basically of a front, side front, and back. The first cloak made of a brown suede material lined with linen only required these two pieces. The second cloak made of a blue/green fabric in a single layer and required a facing to finish off the neck and front edges.
Construction was very easy and there were no complaints about the pattern at all. Though I will say that you should make sure your fabric is wide enough otherwise you’ll have to do some awkward piecing or placement.
One helpful tip I learned is to always let the garment hang for a day before hemming it to ensure that any of the bias can stretch out. I definitely had some trimming to do after letting the cloak hang out for a bit. Next time though I would probably skip the facing if I was making a single layer cloak and just turn in the edges before sewing them down.
This cloak is a one size fits all pattern. I’d say for anyone 5’7″ and up it will certainly fit with no issue. I’m 5’9″ and the hem falls to about mid calf which is perfect for me because I don’t want it dragging around in the mud or dirt. If you’re really tall the hem would have to be lengthened and if you’re short you’d probably want to shorten it and perhaps take the shoulders in as well.
My favorite thing about this cloak is that it will not choke you. The well fitting shoulders means that it will not shift around and ride up on you while you wear it. You can trust that you’ll be comfortable all day long at whatever event you’re wearing it to.
The finished cloaks unfortunately had to get their photos taken inside since there is heavy snow on the ground, therefore here they are in my bedroom on my dress form. Perhaps when they are worn outside in costume I’ll add a few better photos where the coloring is a lot better. The fox pelts were obtained from one of the many medieval markets here in Germany and I think make a nice addition to the cloaks.
The Sewing Queen 