Almost a year ago I saw and instantly fell in love with this Trina Turk capelet:
Around the same time, the lovely ladies at Go Patterns sent me their new capelet pattern, #2002 after I was so impressed with their little black dress pattern. Really, how nice of them!
Looking at the two together, I instantly saw the possibilities, but didn’t quite get around to finding the right fabric or the time last winter, but this year it all came together to form this sweet little capelet…
Sorry for the overexposure – neither of us are used to sunny photoshoots…
The body of the capelet is 100% Go Patterns, but I made my own collar to match the Trina Turk one by measuring the capelet neckline, adding a few inches to the end and flaring it out. Since my inspiration has a fold over around the neck, I made mine twice as wide as necessary, and due to fabric constraints, I ended up using satin as the undercollar around the neck, which adds a bit of unintentional glam when it peeks through!
The buttons are vintage, off a teal wool coat I bought at a second hand store a few years ago and replaced with toggles. They look much better here than on the original coat I think! My only problem is that when I lined them up on my buttonhole gauge to make the buttonholes, I completely forgot to account for their super thickness and my holes were WAY too small! Argh. So I had to carefully rip out the stops and extend them, which was a bit tedious!
I think if I’d do this again I’d add a chain or some pennies to weigh down the hem a little bit, but I’ve noticed the Trina Turk capelet has the same shape at the bottom hem so I’m not too fussed. The Go Patterns instructions were once again top notch, even if the massive tissue paper drove me insane during my tracing session (I actually cheated and drafted my own lining pieces from the exterior minus the facings. It seemed easier than fighting the tissue to trace more pieces!). I really wish more pattern companies would advise which side should go down onto the feed dogs when easing seams – it’d make some steps go much more smoothly!
Apologies for posting the photos earlier and then disappearing – I’ve been laid low with an awful head cold for the past three days and am only now just emerging from my snotty, coughy, achey fog…