Tessuti New York Cape

 I know I am late to the cape party but when I found the most devine wool coat fabric in Fabric Vision's recent sale, I was powerless to resist.  Add to the temptation a proliferation of capes, ponchos and wraps that the onset of cold weather started to bring out of the woodwork and I was sold. 

 I had admired Tessuti's New York cape since it first appeared on the scene but wasn't sure how a cape would work into my wardrobe.  I wasn't 100% sure that it would be super practical for a cold New Zealand winter but on the flip side, my Tessuti Sydney jacket has seen a ton of wear over the last few winters.  With this small shred of hope, I quickly snapped up my lovely wool fabric and then began a period of being paralyzed with doubt.  I think I may have fallen down an internet rabbit hole in my quest for the perfect cape pattern.  I just kept coming back to the New York cape.  Why, you may ask?  I liked the idea of a button under the arm that sort of resembles a coat and keeps the flapping to a minimum.  I also may be a little partial to all things New York at the moment because I will be visiting in a few months.  Because it will be the end of summer, my cape will not be accompanying me.

Armed with my pattern and my fabric, I then needed to formulate a plan.  The pattern calls for wool binding which is something I did not have access to.  I did however have a basket load of wool knit fabric scraps and enough cotton woven which I could make binding out of.  I wasn't sure still how I would go about the binding but figured that it could probably work.

To bind the seams etc.  I used the woven binding that I made using some of my remnant cotton shirting weight fabric and then set about cutting some 6m of wool binding which I had pre cut into 5cm wide strips and joined together.  I stitched one long side onto the hem of my cape right sides together with a 1cm seam and then flipped the binding over and tucked the raw edge in and hand stitched the entire 6m down on the wrong side.  This was a really time consuming process but not at all unenjoyable in front of the tv under its cozy weight.  To finish the cape off I made button holes on my sewing machine which was a heart in the mouth kind of process.  My sewing machine makes lovely button holes when you strike it on the right day but you do seem to have to stand on your head with your mouth in just the right position to get it to do so.  I think I may have struck it on a good day because I seemed to have very few issues, thankfully.

My cape has been finished for a few weeks waiting on my buttons to arrive from China.  I ordered them on Aliexpress and then watched the tracking almost daily until they arrived in Auckland.  They seemed to get stuck in customs for around 4 days which I found extremely frustrating.  I gave up eventually thinking my buttons had been lost in our postal system.  I found some in my stash that did the job to at least get the cape wearable.  I had no sooner stitched the darn things on when my neighbour knocked on the door with my package.  It seems they had been delivered to the wrong house and could well have been there for a few days before she brought them over.  Can  I be bothered changing the buttons now?  I am not sure.