Sewing a Velvet Evening Coat for Miss Fisher Con

A 1920's evening gown is not quite complete with out an evening cloak, a headpiece and the right jewels.  Luckily for me, I had a lovely piece of velvet and some pink silk crepe-de-chine along with matching crepe back satin, tucked up on my fabric shelf just waiting to be used.

I've been collecting the above images in my Pinterest account for quite some time and I took elements from each to create my Cloak.  I liked the simple design of the cloak in the upper left corner and the puffy collar as well.  I only had just about 60" of 45" wide velvet so my design was limited to the materials at hand.  For the puffy collar I used the lower right hand collar as inspiration.  It would also pretty easy to achieve.  

To make the outer collar, I used three layers - Velvet, pink silk and a green flannel to give it stability.  Also, it provides an extra layer for which to create the channels that will hold the stays that will give it a scrunched effect.

Here you can see the inside of the collar after the channels and stays have been installed.  The cape itself is a rectangle of velvet and one of silk that are gathered at the top edge.  I ran out of the pink silk lining. so I used fabric left over from my gown fabric to line the collar. The collar and neckline were then finished by hand.

Here you are some details added to the finished cloak - a bejeweled clasp and my very own label.  It's so fun to put my bridal labels in my my own clothes!

And here you see the headband I made with a soft beaded applique and matching pink silk ribbon to coordinate with my evening ensemble, and the cloak hanging over the outfit.  So close and almost complete!

• Beaded Applique and bejeweled clasp  - Trims on Wheels
• Burn out Velvet - Gift from a friend.
• Silk Crepe-de-Chine and matching crepe back satin for lining (I had to use both to make the piece big enough) - C&J Textile in NYC

Until next time, Happy Sewing.