Upcycled Capelet Tutorial . Part II

First of all, thanks so much for all the positive feedback on this capelet. And thanks again to Kathleen of Grosgrain for designing the original pattern. It is such a great fit.

For Part I of the tutorial, click here.

We will begin with the lining.

Hem the straight edge of the FRONT lining pieces (shown above but covered with the next step). To figure out how much to turn in, place these pieces on the jacket fabric and measure. I turned the button edge in 3/8” as that is the seam allowance. But for the buttonhole side, you will need to leave room for the buttonholes and turn in more (see arrows). This measurement will depend on your jacket’s original buttonholes.

Take your warm fleece fabric for the muff/pouch and turn all four edges under ½” and stitch. If your fabric won't fray much, you could probably avoid this step. Or if you have a serger, that would be even better.

Place the fabric panels on the wrong side of the lining as shown. They should butt up against the edge. Topstitch them on taking care not to get the lining all bunched up.

Stitch the FRONT and BACK cape pieces RST at the long curved seam. Don't forget to leave the armhole open. Backstitch for extra strength at those points. On the original pattern there are marks and notes, "sew to here." I will make a note to myself by putting a pin in the other direction where I need to stop.

Stitch the FRONT and BACK lining pieces RST at the long curved seam. Leave the armhole open as before.

Remove the buttons and mark their placement. You will sew them back on later.

Next the place the lining inside the cape RST.

Prepare the hem. You will need to turn the existing flap of the jacket to the outside to ensure a clean edge. Then pin the entire hem and stitch carefully.

Stitch the collar to the lining RST, making sure to leave the neck edge open.

Clip both points off as shown. Turn inside-out and press.

Set the collar inside the cape RST as shown. The inside of the cape (the wrong side) will be facing outward and the collar will be nestled inside. Make sure that you attach the collar lining to the jacket fabric. Likewise, the cape lining will be attached to the jacket fabric. Then pin like you’ve never pinned before, starting with your center folds. Stitch carefully. If you get a pucker, just pick out the stitches around it and sew that area again.

Now the fun part. Pull the whole thing inside-out through one of the front openings.

Topstitch your neck seam so that it will lie flat.

Now finish up the construction by topstitching the lining to the cape. Leave an opening as shown so that the chubby little fingers can clasp on crisp Fall days.

Your buttonhole side should have the lining stitched just outside the edge of the original buttonholes. If you have a weighty tweed like the one pictured, your stitching will not show very much on the front of the capelet.

Finger press your bottom hem, pin and topstitch about ¼” from the edge.

Sew the buttons back on. Attach the hook and eye closure.

And it’s done! Please let me know if you have any questions. I know that a few of the photos are less than stellar. I am happy to try to fix any problems in the post.

Upcycled Capelet Tutorial . Part I

Welcome to Part I of the Upcycled Capelet Tutorial. I had this idea a long time ago, found the perfect jacket this Summer, and used Kids Clothes Week over at Elsie Marley to make it happen. It may seem daunting but I am breaking it down into simple steps. Also, you do not have to make the hidden pouch with the lining. You can just skip those parts.

I really love how how this turned out. I found large hook and eye closures so that it could hang open or we can button it up using the jacket's original buttons and buttonholes. I used the Storybook Cape pattern from Grosgrain because it's a perfect fit and uses less fabric than a traditional circle cape. This makes a size 2 - 3 but can be easily enlarged by adding width to the fold line on the pattern back piece and the straight line of the pattern front piece. And, of course, length as needed.

Print out the pattern pieces from this link. You won’t need to print out the hood.

Print this collar pattern. I drafted this from the original pattern's hood so it is a perfect fit.

Trim two inches of the pattern from the bottom edge of both cape pieces.

Carefully remove the sleeves from the jacket.

Place the pattern on the jacket as shown if you want to use the buttonholes. As you can see, the pattern is hanging over the edge of the jacket at the opening because it has the seam allowance built in. Because I'm using the existing jacket edge, I don't need a seam allowance.

Cut 1 of the BACK on the fold from both the lining fabric and the jacket.

Cut 2 of the FRONT pieces from both the lining fabric and the jacket.

Cut the collar from what is left over. If you don’t have enough using a fold, add a seam allowance to the pattern at the fold line and cut from two different areas (like the sleeves).

A 3/8” seam allowance is incorporated into all the pattern pieces.

If you’d like a cleaner look to your arm openings, add a flap as shown.

Cut out and label all your pieces.

You will also need two 3.5” X 7.5” pieces of the lining fabric for the bound opening and two 5” X 7” pieces of something soft and warm like fleece for the hidden muff/pouch.

Trim the original inside seams from the jacket as shown (if they’re messy).

Fold in the “flaps” for the sleeve openings on all 8 pieces and stitch them down.

Mark placement for the bound openings as shown. The marks should be 3” from the bottom, 3” from the inside seam, and 4.5” long. One way to do this is to draw a line on your pattern, fold the paper over, then use the straight edge of the pattern as a guide.

Carefully cut the fabric on the line to make the opening.

Mark the lining fabric for the bound opening.
a. Draw a 4.5” vertical center line on the fabric.
b. Draw a line 1/2” on each side of the center line.
c. Draw short horizontal lines at the top and bottom to connect all three.

Place the lining fabric on the jacket front with right sides together (RST). You can see in the photo the edge of the original pocket. The center line of the lining should match up with the opening slit you just cut.

Stitch the rectangle as shown.

Cut the center line of the lining and cut a triangle from the center line to each outer line as shown.

Pull the lining to the inside of the jacket and handstitch it in place. Getting it to look just right takes a bit of fussing.

If your lining fabric is very slippery, you may want to adhere it to the jacket fabric. I used fusible interfacing (Wonder Under) and some scrap cotton fabric to make the patch. This is not necessary but it was getting on my nerves.

The hardest part is done! As you can see, I didn't do such a great job of lining up my fabrics so one side is wider than the other. Luckily, my 2-year old didn't notice.

We’ll do the lining and collar tomorrow. Special thanks to Kathleen at Grosgrain for the amazing original pattern.

Apologies for the terrible quality of some of the photos. I did most of this sewing after dark while the kid was asleep. Please, please, please let me know if you have any questions. I will answer them in the comments.

For Part II, click here.