Tiny Progress
So I played dress up with my tiny 'tailors model' yesterday. I started with a pattern layout based on this:
(Note to Self: Check out mmcnealy information on de Alcega tailors marks here.)
In which I modified the hood thusly:
I also pulled together a standing collar, which I will probably end up basing on the version I used in the fitted brown woolen doublet I made a couple of years ago. A bit of a question regarding that later...
Keeping in mind we want to end up with something like this:
I think I may have landed in the ballpark:
First things first. YES, I need to add length to the back of the garment. The cloak looks to hit the back of the knees and the hood falls to just below the small of the back. But a few things *did* work in ways I really like.
By removing a small triangle of material in the CB bottom of the hood, and then 'lacing' that space closed (in the same manner as the inspiration image) the material of the hood begins to form into a more natural 'bag' shape that makes for a better fit over the head. Many of the cloaks in this period are split much further down the middle and then seamed for shaping (either with a real seam, or with buttons or ties that can be undone to allow the 'hood' to lay flat along the back as this one does). Between this small split, and the 'gathering' of the extra hood length along the shoulders by placing the ties with loose bagging between - as done with pins in the image above) the overall hood becomes...well.. a hood rather than a flat bit of cape.
The forming of hood is hard to see in this scaled down version, but is more apparent in the first of the mock up images above. I plan on playing with the depth of the split and the amount of loose bagging between tie points on the full scale mock up to be done later this week.
The 'tails' on the hood look like they are going to be *excellent* at forming the garment around the face and neck. I had guessed this was their purpose when seeing them on the inspiration image, but I love the result in the scale model. I have feeling that hubby may be annoyed by them on occasion (they may not *stay* wrapped without some pinning), but I have a sneaking suspicion they may be more able to hold their position than I think once the full sized version is done.
Now, on to the problems:
1) The collar I intend to use has an 'incorporated' back piece in one with the body of the garment. This doesn't seem to be done with cloak patterning, given the examples in my prior posts, but then *no* collars appear to be present in those extant patterns while we do see them on the actual garments in a number of cases. Thoughts on the best sort of collar method to use to get the result in the inspiration image? I am imagining whatever version I end up using, there may need to be a bit of pad stitching to get the form to hold to the back of the neck in the way it does in the inspiration piece.
2) The fullness of the back of the cloak just doesn't seem to match up with the amount of fabric even a full circle is giving me. If I want the sort of yardage that the controlled pleating under the hood form seems to indicate, I think I may need to add a gore to the CB of the piece to make it happen. There is *clearly* enough yardage in the cut lay out to allow for this
By opening the CB line of the cloak (on the fold currently) and adding one or both of these I would be placing a straight-of-grain against a bias cut which would add some stabilization to the natural stretch in the circular cut. Furthermore, if I reverse the position of the circular cloak piece to the 'open' side of the folded fabric then the gore would actually be on the fold - preventing additional seam lines in the final garment. The hood could also be swapped, but since the inspiration image does not seem to indicate a seam down the middle of the hood I would hesitate to do so.
Part of the issue could be the scale I am working in, or that my 'tapes' were thrown together, or that I started with the first line of 'picks' too far apart (please note, this is the inside of the garment you are looking at below - and yes I am watching Longmire in the background...*grin*):
But honestly, it just *feels* like there is no way to get a circle alone to make pleats like this:
3) The hubby wants a hood that will hold up to some weather and/or make him look like a ninja (my words, not his - but he *does* love the Nuremberg mourning cloak with its lirepipe hood and black, inky soul). This may mean that I need to add a bit of felt fabric to the lower edge of the hood form (which will end up around the face), and down into the 'wraps", at least far enough to ensure a similar level of face coverage as what we see in the detail here.
This may also allow the hood more 'forward weight' to help hold the wrap in place more securely, and may be one of the reasons for the trim in that location in the inspiration image.
So, on to the full scale mock up! The fabric is going to be muslin or something else that is lightweight, so I need to consider that vs. the final lined wool weight with trimmed hem to help hold it out. Still, it will give me more data!
(Note to Self: Check out mmcnealy information on de Alcega tailors marks here.)
In which I modified the hood thusly:
I also pulled together a standing collar, which I will probably end up basing on the version I used in the fitted brown woolen doublet I made a couple of years ago. A bit of a question regarding that later...
Keeping in mind we want to end up with something like this:
I think I may have landed in the ballpark:
First things first. YES, I need to add length to the back of the garment. The cloak looks to hit the back of the knees and the hood falls to just below the small of the back. But a few things *did* work in ways I really like.
By removing a small triangle of material in the CB bottom of the hood, and then 'lacing' that space closed (in the same manner as the inspiration image) the material of the hood begins to form into a more natural 'bag' shape that makes for a better fit over the head. Many of the cloaks in this period are split much further down the middle and then seamed for shaping (either with a real seam, or with buttons or ties that can be undone to allow the 'hood' to lay flat along the back as this one does). Between this small split, and the 'gathering' of the extra hood length along the shoulders by placing the ties with loose bagging between - as done with pins in the image above) the overall hood becomes...well.. a hood rather than a flat bit of cape.
The forming of hood is hard to see in this scaled down version, but is more apparent in the first of the mock up images above. I plan on playing with the depth of the split and the amount of loose bagging between tie points on the full scale mock up to be done later this week.
The 'tails' on the hood look like they are going to be *excellent* at forming the garment around the face and neck. I had guessed this was their purpose when seeing them on the inspiration image, but I love the result in the scale model. I have feeling that hubby may be annoyed by them on occasion (they may not *stay* wrapped without some pinning), but I have a sneaking suspicion they may be more able to hold their position than I think once the full sized version is done.
Now, on to the problems:
1) The collar I intend to use has an 'incorporated' back piece in one with the body of the garment. This doesn't seem to be done with cloak patterning, given the examples in my prior posts, but then *no* collars appear to be present in those extant patterns while we do see them on the actual garments in a number of cases. Thoughts on the best sort of collar method to use to get the result in the inspiration image? I am imagining whatever version I end up using, there may need to be a bit of pad stitching to get the form to hold to the back of the neck in the way it does in the inspiration piece.
2) The fullness of the back of the cloak just doesn't seem to match up with the amount of fabric even a full circle is giving me. If I want the sort of yardage that the controlled pleating under the hood form seems to indicate, I think I may need to add a gore to the CB of the piece to make it happen. There is *clearly* enough yardage in the cut lay out to allow for this
By opening the CB line of the cloak (on the fold currently) and adding one or both of these I would be placing a straight-of-grain against a bias cut which would add some stabilization to the natural stretch in the circular cut. Furthermore, if I reverse the position of the circular cloak piece to the 'open' side of the folded fabric then the gore would actually be on the fold - preventing additional seam lines in the final garment. The hood could also be swapped, but since the inspiration image does not seem to indicate a seam down the middle of the hood I would hesitate to do so.
Part of the issue could be the scale I am working in, or that my 'tapes' were thrown together, or that I started with the first line of 'picks' too far apart (please note, this is the inside of the garment you are looking at below - and yes I am watching Longmire in the background...*grin*):
But honestly, it just *feels* like there is no way to get a circle alone to make pleats like this:
3) The hubby wants a hood that will hold up to some weather and/or make him look like a ninja (my words, not his - but he *does* love the Nuremberg mourning cloak with its lirepipe hood and black, inky soul). This may mean that I need to add a bit of felt fabric to the lower edge of the hood form (which will end up around the face), and down into the 'wraps", at least far enough to ensure a similar level of face coverage as what we see in the detail here.
This may also allow the hood more 'forward weight' to help hold the wrap in place more securely, and may be one of the reasons for the trim in that location in the inspiration image.
So, on to the full scale mock up! The fabric is going to be muslin or something else that is lightweight, so I need to consider that vs. the final lined wool weight with trimmed hem to help hold it out. Still, it will give me more data!