I was going to make a jacket, then a cardigan but this happened instead

“I can’t even tell you how much I love this cloak.”

So I made something I’ll wear for eternity. This is everything I wanted from this bit of fabric. How much do I need to write here to tell you that I did good? Because I did and I have never felt this way for a piece I made before. Could it be the tassels, probably definitely adds the groove but the colours and floral motifs give pure love and vibes. So here is a blog post dedicated to my joy and this cloak.

So I’ve had this beautiful lilac and white floral fabric for a little while now with the white thick fringe and wanted to make a jacket, but didn’t know where I was going with it for that while until now. I toyed with the idea of a long cardigan but cloak happened when I saw the potential of a hood, fabric thrown over my head willingly creatively flowing from one idea to another. The cloak stuck because of the fringe and hood & who doesn’t love a good hood?

So I sat down wearing the fabric over my head and set the intention to try my hand at making the cutest cloak I’ve ever seen. Measuring this out, I made a very simple pattern for it as I wanted it to fit as well as it could without being too big but still have some space to wear something underneath. The hood I had to cut twice. I made a mistake because I’ve never made a hood before and to be fair it’s not the easiest shape to get right just by eye, so it ended up being a little bigger than I guess it needed to be.

My little behbeh studio assistant was right with me the whole time, playing with the fabric but he eventually lost studio rights because of being the tiny tiger he is and tried to play with all the tools but here are a couple of photos of the lil bean for pure joy vibes. His eyes make me melt, I can’t..

The pattern did originally have pockets cut out but I wasn’t sold on it because I felt as though it didn’t need them. So I basically scrapped that idea and focussed on the fringe and placement of everything. I did cut the back out slightly off centre so it was a bit scary cutting the front panels out but

luckily there was the perfect amount of fabric and the shape worked out a treat! The front panels have a wonderful and unintended shape that worked really well for the shape at the bottom. Oval and symmetrical so I was super excited and happy about that little miracle after thinking I might have cut the pattern out wrong.

I wanted the sleeves to have fringe on the cuffs and they were beautiful to actually sew on because of the type of cotton too. I also left the right amount of gap for adding the sleeves in and actually manage to work through all of it in the space of a couple of hours but I needed a nap in between due to the urge of horizontal thriving being oh so delectable.

So after Coffee and I having a little break, I went to finish what I started. I started with adding the front panels to the back and made sure I left enough space to fit in the sleeves, and I did measure to a point but honestly I did this by eye because of being so excited to have a cloak I wanted to finish it as soon as I could.

I then sewed up the straight line for the sleeves and got a little nervous about the thicker parts where the fringe was. My sewing machine is good but I would love to upgrade to the machine I want in the near future, so in the new year I am going to splurge and get a new sewing machine and also get an overlocker so I can work more efficiently and more neatly. It’s going to be so good to upgrade and work on projects without the fear of breaking needles as often. Yay!

The sleeves had been cut to a really comfortable length and also have a beautiful shape with the drape when my hands and arms are moving and relaxed. The fabric is stunning with the fringe detail though I still need to hand sew the fringe connections together and have a little time spent finishing those bits off but by the time I had sewn the sleeves and hood on to finish it, the sun was setting behind the cloud and I basically ran out to film a little video after styling it with a skirt I made in the same fabric.

This project went really well and I wore the cloak the next day and I really love how it turned out. I want to make more now with some of the heavier fabrics I have in my stash so I will make a video showing a little bit more of how the pattern works and the footage of me making this will be in the next video I post which after I finish writing this blog post, my next goal is to edit the vlog I made with this in it. It will be the next post after this one.

“The fabric is stunning with the fringe detail though I still need to hand sew the fringe connections together and have a little time spent finishing those bits off ”

Styling this cloak with a simple matching skirt and sports bra top with the black sandals that give me the ultimate joy vibe (they go with everything I am so grateful I found them!) this outfit is my new favourite thing and in the summer months will be repeated, for a long long time. I feel so good knowing I made this and it fits so well. The hood I reckon I will adjust to make it a little smaller but honestly I love the overall look and enjoy the aesthetic of witchy cloak of dreams. A little bit 70’s a little bit modern day with. Its a good confident look for me and weather was a bit of a game changer as I kept having the wind blow my hood down but ya’know England. I still felt good and am still over the moon with this cloak.

Go find yourself some fabric that you love, this was an old set of curtains and a matching bed spread. And now look at it! I’m so grateful I found it and the fabric altogether was around £6 for a bedspread and also a set of huge curtains. Make what you are inspired by, it really helps the dopamine, and don’t be afraid to make mistakes as they turn something into something better than you thought. This was a really fun project and out it the cloak and skirt matching combo are my new favourite thing!

Thank you all and love and light to you all too!