a woodland cape (and thank you)

Wow. Thanks everyone for the sweet comments. I feel so blessed to have been able to work on that quilt. I'm also touched that I've heard from several people about that post rekindling a desire to blog again (and it's having that effect on me too. Hopefully for a good long time). So big hugs all around!

I have been a paragon of sewing efficiency lately. I think the quilt kicked me back into production mode. Well, that and the fact that I finally cleaned up in the studio enough that Kit can hang out in there while I work. I have several projects stacked up, but true to form, I turend to something new and shiny. 

Oliver + S Little Things to Sew: 20 Classic Accessories and Toys for Children has been sitting on my sewing table for a while now and this cape has been on my agenda since I saw Melissa's version at Bolt. I knew it would be the perfect thing for Annika to throw on this fall and winter when she didn't want to go dig her coat out of the pile of clothes on her floor wear a heavy coat. 

It's made from a fairly lightweight vintage wool in robin's egg blue that my mother-in-law gave me along with a bunch of other fabric from Jeff's late aunt's stash. I treasure that stack of wool (it's even all labeled with yardage and the intended project) and have been very slow to cut into it. Now that we're back in wool country, it's time to make some pieces with it that can be passed on from girl to girl. 

I lined it with the Amy Butler Wallflower print in cherry because that print is, of course, the perfect bright pop of color beneath the blue wool. The button was handmade by Amy. It fits her perfectly and should for a while - it fits me around the shoulders. This pattern would be fairly easy to make for an adult simply by lengthening the pieces and shifting the arm slits down. The hood is plenty big enough for my head. Maybe I need one too!

The pattern is marked as beginner in the book and I'd have to agree. It's very straightforward, and produces beautiful results. I always feel Very Accomplished when I finish one of Liesl's patterns because the finishing details are just perfect. No Becky Homecky around here. The best part was when she said "can I keep wearing it?" even though it's in the 70's today. That makes it all worthwhile. 

I may have already finished another project from this book and have 3 more in the works. It may be Oliver + S all the time around here for a couple of weeks. Sorry about that. When I'm in a groove, I know better than to stop. Back to the cutting table!