Mood Style: Sewing an Outerwear Cape

Capes, capelets, and mantels; all three were seen on the Fall 2016 runways, and in no shortage of different styles! We saw short and simple silhouettes with fur details, lovely wrap coats with attached capelet overlays, and even long garments ready for the red carpet.

For today’s sewing project, I decided to pull some inspiration from this trend. Rather than a basic cape, I decided to make a sort of mix between the Libertine and Prada capes above, while pulling the rich colors from Marc Jacobs’ runway.

Luckily, I found the perfect belted cape pattern from Burda’s Rock Island collection. I used the following fabrics and materials with just a few alterations:

• 3.5 yards Pacific Twill Wool Coating
• 1/2 yard Italian Black Herringbone Wool-Blend Suiting
• 1.5 yards Alexander Wang Black Rayon Twill Lining
• 1 Italian Charcoal Metal Safety Pin – 3.75″

I made the belt about 1.5x the pattern’s recommended length in order to give it a nice bow in the front. In addition. I also got rid of the front belt loops, moving them to the side instead. This showed off the beautiful herringbone fabric a little more, which I absolutely love!

The pockets were also scrapped so the print wouldn’t be too overpowering. And instead of a fabric tab closer at the collar, I used one of Mood’s fantastic over-sized safety pins.

Overall, it’s a lovely piece of outerwear for Fall! Are you going to be making your own? I’d love to know what fabrics and colors you’ll be using!