Aquamarine & Cream Camden Cape
Happy February! Wordpress sent me a little trophy today to remind me I signed up for trishstitched.com one year ago! I'm planning a little "anniversary" on the blog so you'll see quite a few posts this month! My first project on this blog was a coat, so it seems appropriate to keep with the outerwear theme so here's my new cape!
When I first saw the Camden Cape I wasn't really interested. I didn't think I was a cape girl. First I was afraid of being swallowed by fabric and the lack of shape made me nervous of looking "large". And what are you supposed to do with your hands? They just stick out with no where to go. But after being on the Seamwork Site to blog about the Aires Leggings, I took another look at the patterns. There she was, in all her cape glory and I realized I hadn't sewn anything for a winter wardrobe. Did I need a cape? No. Did I want a cape? Suddenly, yes!
I've shared my love for Seamwork Magazine before, and I am so happy with the projects they produce but I had a little issue with this one. There were 75 pages for this pattern. SEVENTY FIVE. I get that it's necessary, but I do wish there was a way to only print one size of the pattern. Since it ranges from 0-26, there was a lot of extra paper since I cut out a size 2. I watched an entire Disney movie in the time it took just to tape all the pages together, so the "project time" of 3 hours is not accurate.
Overall, sewing the cape was simple, as all Seamwork patterns I've made before, and with each stitch, I fell more in love with this cape. I bought the fabric from JoAnn's in their remnant bin so I had exactly 1 yard to work with. I knew I wanted the cape to be shorter anyway so I thought I could squeeze it out. Squeeze I did! This cape is meant to take 2 7/8 yards so I completely omitted the bottom, then chopped a few inches off the overall design- I think it was made roughly 7" shorter . If I left the cape uncut, it would hit me in the lower thigh, 2" above the knee. So while my cape does not drape quite as nice as Seamwork's versions, I am no where near as engulfed in fabric as I would have been.
The lining was Franken-stitched together. I had this blue satin-esque fabric in my stash almost since I started sewing. The only problem was, there wasn't enough for the entire lining. The lining is all blue except for the center back piece, which is white cotton, since that was the only other fabric in my stash that would go! It wasn't ideal but I am always happy to use up some of my fabrics.
The only change I would make would have been to add pockets. I still don't know what to do with my hands so having a designated "place" for them would have been great. The wonderful part about this cape is that it's been 50 degrees here in Jersey so I can actually wear it! This cape feels sophisticated, which is not a word I would typically associate with my wardrobe, but it also feels fun! It isn't a boring black or beige and even has a pop of color inside!
And can you believe we got 26" of snow last week? Saturday was a blur of white but it's almost melted now. My snow day turned into a sew-day!