Black silk black marabou hooded cape - Part Two

Finally, here is the finished black silk and black marabou hooded cape: I'm happy with how it turned out:

Black marabou silk hooded cape by TheLadyDetalle

Materials: I used an excellent quality black silk taffeta (bought a few years back in the L.A. Fashion District), with self bias binding trim, lined in black linen (bought from 96th District Fabrics at Fort Fred this past spring for this purpose), and trimmed in black marabou feather boas (bought from JoAnn's).

I followed the same tutorial I used here and here, in creating my pink silk hooded cape, only I changed how far down the front the hood is attached (lowering it a few inches in the front), and also attached the hood to the cape base before adding the bias binding to finish. I trimmed it in black marabou from JoAnn's, following this method, and viola!

This style is popular and modeled after the late 18th century, based on one in 'The Cut of Women's Clothes' by Norah Waugh, but I've been researching capes, mantles, mantlets, capelets, cloaks and related outerwear for a few months now. I have found that the terms are sometimes interchangeable (but not always) and that the shapes and terms changed over the decades, the general shape, wear and use often was similar across decades, so this late 18th century hooded cape is very similar in some cases to Victorian capes. I've also found that things are likely mis-labeled at times and that I'm sure, adds to the confusion.

Here is what I've learned in my research so far (these are generalities and open to future update with more research): Cloaks are long, almost the length of a garment. Capes are generally waist length and lack sleeves (their purpose is to keep the wearer's back warm, and as the garment is so short, sleeves are not needed). Pelerines are waist length like capes, but are longer in the front (almost to the floor in some cases I've seen) and have pointed (or rounded) edges, and were popular across many decades. Pelisses are full length and have sleeves in the Regency, but in the Georgian period, they appear to be mid way between waist length and full length and have sleeves. Mantle is a term that seems to be synonymous with capes; I have founded waist length garments without sleeves described both as capes and as mantles, and I have found waist length garments with sleeves described only as mantles or pelisses. But a few described as a cape. Fichus are generally very small and cover only the top portion of the chest/neck. Capelets and Mantlets appear to be smaller or mini versions of Capes and Mantles respectively.

Whew, it's enough to make one's head spin! Here is a link to my Pinterest board with some of my research, if you want to check it out! So definitely something that requires further research, but this is why I'm calling it a hooded cape for now!

Here is the page from 'The Cut of Women's Clothes' defining this as a "hooded cape."

Page from 'The Cut of Women's Clothes' by Norah Waugh

A few in-progress pictures:

Pleating both sides of the neckline

The big hood (meant to fit over high hairstyles)

Pleating the neckline

And my prior entry: 'Black Silk Marabou Cape - Part One'.

Thanks for reading!

Sewing on marabou feather trim - a mini tutorial

A few people have asked me about sewing on marabou feather boa trim...so I decided to do a quick little tutorial explaining how to work with this stuff, and hope that it is helpful!

I used marabou feather boa trim on the following projects: 18th century pink silk w/ white marabou hooded cape, 18th century black silk w/ black marabou hooded cape, my fluffy white modern hat, and most recently, my early 19th century (Regency) cream silk w/ white marabou pelerine.

18th C pink silk hooded cape 

19th C cream silk pelerine

Resources: All of the marabou feather boas I bought at my local JoAnn's or ordered from JoAnn's.com. Link to boas here (also I used sale coupons).

Also on the sidebar (near top) is a link to my Pinterest board of capes, cloaks, pelerines, mantles, and other examples of historical outerwear, many of which have marabou trim OR ermine or other furs.

There are different methods for sewing on marabou trim, and what I used was intended to very thoroughly secure the marabou to the cape/pelerine edges, and minimize the amount of feather shafts (the hard middle part of the feather) that stick up. I did this by securing the marabou every 1/8-1/4 inch instead of every 1/2 or 1 inch or so, which was laboriously and difficult, but ends with a lovely finished product!

Finding the SMOOTH side: Pick up the marabou feather boa and stroke it a few times in opposite directions, finding the smooth side (the side that strokes the feathers down versus standing up). The smooth side direction top will be your top edge. This is what you want to start with, to secure on your cape/cloak/etc. Keep in mind that you want the feathers to smooth DOWN, so if you are starting with the hood, find the middle of the hood at the top, and then start there and make sure the feather boa is smooth going down one side of the hood, then using a separate piece, start again on the other side of the middle ensuring that the feather boa is smooth going down the second side of the hood.

Marabou feather boa, SMOOTH side versus NON SMOOTH side:

SMOOTH side

NON SMOOTH side

The same holds true for the cape or pelerine edges, you want the marabou to lay smooth going down, so ensure that you start at the top and sew down the cape/cloak/peleriene edge, with the marabou smooth side going down (going down the vertical). Areas of the cape/cloak/pelerine that are horizontal can be smooth going either way, so I just continue the smooth direction already in process and keep going.

Sewing it down: Using a needle that has been double-threaded (I used Mettler's 100% cotton), First, you gently cut away the bit of rope at the end of the feather boa, leaving you with only feather shafts (use non-sewing scissors). Starting from the bottom (lining side) hide a thread knot underneath the edge of the bias binding, coming up slightly over the middle on the top edge (above the marabou).

Start your needle from below, hide knot

(View without flash)

Take your needle OVER the marabou (hard to see)

Then take your needle across the marabou below to enter your needle in just on the other side of the marabou trim (so as to cover the feather boa with your double thread and secure it) and come out the bottom side. Again, starting from the bottom, come up slightly over the middle of the top edge (above the marabou), then take your needle across the marabou, covering it with your double thread and through below to come out the bottom side. Repeat a few times in the same area to well secure the cut top end of the marabou boa. Then move on by repeating the above steps to sew down the marabou trim by securing it every 1/8-1/4 inch.

Continue with the above, sewing down all the marabou feather trim using double thread thickness (for securing) and hiding your knots as you go. It's fine if your stitches overlap each other a bit, it will make the marabou edge very secure.

Finishing: Once you have completely sewn on all the marabou trim (keeping in mind it should be SMOOTH vertically), you will now need to 're-fluff' the marabou! The double thread is now holding down (trapping) the fluffy marabou feather bits along the edge, and you will get a beautiful finished edge when you re-fluff it. Taking a needle or pin, hold the marabou up vertically (smooth or rough side doesn't matter).
Gently work out the fluffy feathers to release them from the (now) horizontal threads, picking out a small bit at a time, making sure not to pull too hard. If you pull too hard, the thin shafts of the feather fluff will break, so work gently and carefully.

Fluffing the marabou

See how the marabou is 'trapped' under the thread?

Fluffy marabou again!

Free as much of the marabou feather fluff as you can, and voila! You are DONE!!

Tips and tricks: The marabou feather fluffy bits MAY get caught up in your thread at times. If so, stop pulling and gently work at the area with your needle until your thread is able to be pulled through again. For me, it seemed to happen more with the white marabou boas then the black ones: the white ones were not quite as 'full' as the black ones, so this quality difference seemed to affect how easy it was to sew down without getting caught.

Note: if you are not looking to secure the marabou well and want to re-use it on other projects, you can sew down the marabou trim every 1/2 to 1 inch or more, and it may move around a bit but can be possibly removed later for re-use. I wanted my garments to last so choose the above securing method.

And there you go, I hope this mini tutorial was helpful!

White silk modern hat & black hooded cape progress

I've been planning a white on white and cream hat that I always intended to make last year, but I was too busy, never could find the time, but I told myself I would still make my fun white hat in 2015! I had previously covered a small straw hat (doll's hat probably) with some thick smooth silk and today I finished the underneath, and basically started with this:

Silk covered straw hat - top

Silk covered straw hat - bottom

 And after a few hours of sewing on feathers, tulle, marabou feathers and other fun things, I had this:

White Silk Hat by TheLadyDetalle

Finished silk hat - top

Finished silk hat - bottom

I have no idea where I'm going to wear this, or with what, but I just had to create it!

I also finished the bias binding on the black silk hooded cape today, and then sewed binding on the unfinished edges (where hood and cape base meet and also inside the hood), so now it's time for black marabou!

Black silk hooded cape - pleating necklne

Black silk hooded cape - almost done!

 Friends coming and Jane Austen Ball at Gadsby's is tomorrow, yay!

Black silk marabou hooded cape - Part One

So my last sewing vacation day I worked a little bit on the late 1790's dress, but I mainly wanted to start a new project!

So of course I chose something that is 1) impractical and 2) have been planning for awhile...a black on black silk cape with black marabou feathers, using the same pattern I drafted for my earlier pink silk & white marabou feather hooded cape.

It was SUCH fun to make and silly me wanted a second cape almost immediately (and I have always always always loved the antique black silk mourning capes and mourning shawls), so I decided, hey, it's hot & humid D.C. area summer, but ok, sure, why not, I'll go ahead and work on my black silk hooded cape that I've been dying to make and probably won't get to wear or need for ages, because why not?! :)

I purchased the black silk taffeta in the L.A. fashion district a couple of years ago (now that I'm using it, I'll need some more black silk taffeta for another future planned project), and picked up the black linen from 96th District Fabrics at Fort Fred this past April, in preparation for this project! And I have some more black marabou feather boas on the way.

I cut the main cape piece on the fold, one of the fashion fabric (black silk taffeta) and one on the lining (black linen). Then I cut the cape hood piece, one of the fashion fabric and one of the lining. Then it's ready to start sewing together!

Here's laying out the cape main shape pattern to cut (on the fold):

Cutting the main cape on the fold

And here's laying out the cape hood pattern to cut (also on the fold):

Cutting the cape hood on the fold

And here's the black silk cape hood pinned together, ready to sew:

Black Silk taffeta cape hood pinned and ready to sew

Here's the black silk main cape pinned together, ready to sew:

Black silk taffeta cape pinned and ready to sew (folded in half)

So far I cut it all out, pinned it together and then machine sewed a small seam allowance on the main cape and sewed it together to the lining. And so ENDS my sewing vacation! I was back at work on Thursday. And hopefully this weekend a bit of sewing and progress on this cape!