Caped for spring

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Outfit details:

1930's inspired, knitted cape, with vintage vegetable ivory buttons and a 1930's buckle;

vintage crochet beret from etsy, vintage glass beaded hat pin, also from etsy;

modern skirt and Miss L-Fire shoes. 

Whilst spring remains in the realms of the imagination, this little project has come to life - if a somewhat unfulfilled one as I will further explain. Starting point to be observed below, in the shape of this McCall cape, which in my version has a shorter length.
This was partially to do with the limited quantity of yarn available - 900g -1000g of a discontinued Rowan Chunky Tweed (the back of the vest which is not visible is made of a different yarn). I am actually on the lookout for more of this yarn if anyone is de-stashing, as this project really needs some rounding up.

There were not only those issues that made me choose a shorter length, but also thoughts of practicality and look - I did not want this to be totally over the top; looking back on this I'm not sure the option I took had any impact on those matters, however a longer length, if achievable at all, would have resulted in a heavier fabric and the cape would have been pulled down a lot more by its own weight.

 

 I am happy overall with the way the yarn behaved - saying this from the perspective of one who didn't actually do the knitting job :) - the texture and weight were a good match for this project, and the construction gives it a nice drape at the back. There is an unfortunate tendency for the front sides to roll in despite a chunkier border worked by mother, but hey, knitted fabric will do that. 

What is far more bothersome is that due to an error of calculation the cape sides meet at the front a lot further then required. This results into the best part of my arms showing, only made worse by a tendency of the cape to gather and pull towards the back. 

Now as a temporary measure I folded the top sides of the cape at the shoulder and pinned them in place with buttons, which changes a bit the design of the coat, not only at the front, but also at the back where this takes somewhat away from that swing shape that you can see in the McCall image. It's the best I can do until this can make its way back to mother for proper attention.

You can see below how messy the button job is, as I couldn't get the sides of the cape to fold neatly and at the same level, and there is some pulling at the vest going on as well. There are ways to put this right while also going back to the original design of the cape at the front. I think it needs  2 sections added to it so it becomes wider and covers the shoulder/arm as intended without being puled from the sides by buttons or otherwise.

This however involves getting my hands on more yarn, which is proving more than challenging as this was discontinued quite a while back. I am thinking to unravel the vest and use the material to make up the 2 extra sections I need. I could then have the vest re-knitted from a substitute yarn - the trouble I am having here though is finding something that would match not only the texture but the colour too.. What a mess, hey?!...

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Catching up

Yup, finally got a camera. Not much of a clue what to do with it yet, but hey, can't have it all. I did manage some pictures though, with the hope to finally (!) show off some of the projects finished since September, when my previous camera so abruptly parted with me.

 

 Do you remember the buttons and belt from my last post? I have since painted the buttons as planned in order to "match" the buckle and here they are,  sewn on the skirt. 

I'm pleased with the result in spite of having had doubts due to the difference in scale in between the buttons and the buckle. 

Still, since the fold over part of the faux wrap skirt came out quite narrow, they fit there right. And in my opinion just make the difference in between a plain, boring skirt and a cute one :)

So here I am, ignoring basic fashion rules such as "dark colour at the bottom, light colour on top" and doing it the vintage way. Dedication doesn't make me less of a fashion victim though. I guess sins against the body type do count.

 

Luckily adding the jacket reestablishes the order.  Swing style, with close to the arm raglan sleeves, and fastening with a button underneath the mandarin collar. A style with many variations, very popular in the mid thirties and of which I'm rather fond. You've seen it here before, no further than the infamous September entry, and with some luck you shall see it again .

 

The jacket was not meant to be belted originally - the swing shape would normally make it too bulky at the back. It's not however too bad in this case as the fabric is thin, soft and drapes well. Another silk and wool mix with a nubby texture which together with the colour (an off cream/natural) makes this look rather convincingly old...

As always: thank you, mum, for so generously indulging me once again.