A quick short cape for Carnivale

One of my co-workers wanted to come with me to Venice. I told her, if she came, I would make her a quick cape or surcote - something that wasn't very difficult to put together but would look carnivalish. We bought 2 meters of poly/rayon white moire and 6 meters of orange cotton trim. She wanted orange because her mask is orange. :-)

The cape itself is pretty simple. I did a basic circle cape with a rectangle for the hood that was then gathered in the 18th C style. Really, since she wanted a short cape, I drew out the circle from the center of the fold of the fabric to 32", using my marker and my measuring table like a compass. Once it was cut out, I cut a small circle at the neckline area to give it a neckline and I cut the front opening because the fabric was a huge circle of fabric. With the leftover piece of fabric, I cut out a long enough rectangle to fit over the head. I think it was about 19" by 23" just so I'd have enough of a seam allowance. With the hood, I sewed one long side of the rectangle first by rolling the fabric over a couple of times so that the edges would be enclosed by I could get a ribbon through it. I put the ribbon through, gathering a lot of the material towards the middle but leaving the last 3" on either side ungathered. I then sewed up these 3~4" so there is just a small hole in the back where all the fabric is gathered. I then stitched the front so there were no raw edges as well.

I pleated the hood to the neckline and used some of the leftover fabric from around where the cape was cut as bias tape for the neckline. Again, no raw edges showing. I then hemmed the rest of the cape and added the orange trim. I had just enough to go down the front and along the hem line. I was hoping to have enough for the hood as well but, eh, whatever. She was very pleased with her little cape. :-)