Winter Checklist: Cape remake from old skirt

Cape I was longing for this autumn.

Autumn is my birth and favourite season. All the colour and pattern from this gloomy season are the palette of my wardrobe.

I found out this old maxi skirt from my uni time, which I will not rewear it as the size. The pleated detail and colour make the fabric so unique, that it is worth to give it a second life.

No pattern was drafted for the cape body. I measured my preference length and cut parallel according to the marked line. In order to stay on my shoulder, I have added a few pleats, just on the bottom layer to remain hidden.

{close up}

However, the fabric still have lots of remains and cannot really stay on my body because the fabric itself is quite thin and not stiff. At the end, I decided to lengthen the width of the cape, around double of my shoulder width.

So the next problem is how can I secure the cape on myself? What is the best closure for a outer. Through researching the Victorian period outer, I can found a lot of fancy embroidered button closure. Due to my limited skill, similar embroidered from that era is not feasible. I have found these reference at last which inspired me to re-transform the button stand to my available fabric (checker of course).

{Victorian cape reference}

{drafting the button stand}

{hand sewing work}

Added placket on both outside and inside of my cape, as this cape is converted into wrapped style. The excess fabric inside need something to secure.

For the button, these are some leftover button from family years of years of collection. I prefer to have matching fabric buttons, should have learn the covered button at some point, marked on my 2023 resolution.

Velvet trims are added by both machine topstitch on and hand sewn. It gives distinct dimension and contrast of layering details.