I've been dealing with a little bit of a cold this last week on top of the normal spoonie-ness, so it was slow going on my most recent sewing project -- the hooded wrap, not quite a cape, not quite a shawl, definitely not a scarf, definitely not a robe thing -- which Jack says I need a better name for lol -- but with pacing and slow incremental progress, I was actually able to finish it in pretty good time.
Ironing and pinning the very long hem was the most time consuming part, but pacing myself actually allowed me to slow down and handsew all the corners into place before I put it through the sewing machine, which resulted in much crisper edges than I would have had if I was rushing to finish it. This time last week I wasn't sure if I would be able to machine sew the hem, but I actually like the look of the top stitching it produces, so I went with what was both easier and nicer looking. After all the ironing and pinning it took me nearly an hour to sew the whole thing in the machine, inching along to keep my lines straight and remove all those pins, so I don't even want to think about how long it would have taken me to handsew it, lol.
I did french seams on all the seams, since they may be seen from the outside, and turned the hem under twice at about the same width for a nice crisp matching look. The resulting hooded thing is soft and cozy and moderately warm, and can be worn a bunch of different ways, which is fun.
With the hood down and the wrap bits left to hang straight down, it's got nearly Jedi robe vibes:
One of the wraps tossed over the shoulder creates nice asymmetry:
But with both of the wraps up on the shoulder and the hood up, it's got a different feel entirely:
The fabric is a brushed cotton herringbone that grips itself reasonably well, so once the wraps are tossed over the shoulders they stay put pretty well. From the side view you can see how it just drapes nicely down the back:
And when they're tossed over the shoulders like that, the finished ends are similar in length to the center back point:
With the wraps unfolded and left long in the front, the back panel is much more visible. There's no shoulder seam at all -- the wraps just continue up over the shoulder and meet at a 45 degree angle in the back:
I was careful when I cut out the pieces and when I pinned both parts of the french seam, so that I could line up the herringbone weave neatly and get these cool chevrons at the center back:
The length in the back is enough for it to feel a bit like a cape, but not in a huge dramatic way or anything -- and Disney generally frowns on large capes and robes for Batuu Bounding, from what I've heard. But with this length I feel like my back and shoulders are covered, but the longest bit of the center back isn't so long that I actually sit on it. I wore it out of the house this weekend and was comfortable both wearing it in the car and walking around an outdoor flea market.
I have about seven yards left of this fabric, so at some point here I'm going to make a Norse-inspired apron dress out of the rest of it, to go over the fleece dress seen in the photos, which I sewed last month, and to go over lighter underdresses in the spring, and possibly on its own in the summer. I like the idea of this hood matching that apron dress, and I did draw some inspiration for Norse/viking hoods with pointed capelets in front and back, too. Not at all historically accurate, but historically-inspired, like the fleece dress.
But really my brain is all about Star Wars right now, and the Batuu Bounding for our trip to Disneyland coming up in about six weeks. The hooded wrap has a very different vibe with big boots and leather-look leggings and a fitted vest and various Star Wars-y accessories. My nb sibling described this hooded thing as 'what Luke Skywalker would wear if he was a crow witch' -- and as an irl crow witch and a non-affiliated gray Force user in my silly Star Wars OC building, I can certainly live with that, lol.
I have a few detail things for my Batuu Bounding outfit that I still want to work on, but generally I'm really happy with how it's coming together. Next up, I'm going to switch gears and work on some details to spruce up Jack's jacket for our outing, now that we've got the base-layer pieces for him figured out too. Pictures of that (and my outfit) as they start to come together.
Six weeks isn't a ton of time to get costuming pieces done in, especially without pushing myself too hard, but I also feel like both of our outfits are good to go the way they are right now. It's just, they could be cooler looking with a little more time and effort. And hey, I'm having fun with the process and it's keeping me from vibrating in place and rewatching every Star Wars movie and tv show over and over again while I count down to my birthday, lol.