Hello again, everyone!
If you have ever worked on capes or want to make a cape for a costume or cosplay, you know it can be difficult. Where to start?
First Step: Look at your research.
Questions you need to answer before you start your project:
1. Where does the cape attach to the costume/cosplay? Or does it?
2. Will you be putting this cape on and off multiple times?
3. Does it lay on top or under some armor? (Help you on where/how it attaches to your clothing)
Once you have those answers - we can start figuring out how to create the cape. For this Mandalorian Cape - the fabric already had a curve cut into it. That is where I started. I put it on a mannequin and began to drape the fabric to match the research.
Draping of the Fabric:
Once you have sewn the edges the way you want them, put your cape on a mannequin (if you are lucky), a duct tape mannequin, or the person who is getting the cape. Tip for draping on a person, try not to stab them with pins.
Take it one step at a time. I started with the back and focused on it having the shape I wanted.
Then to focus on the front draping and attachment of the front together.
Make sure to keep your research handy and make it look the way you want it to look. Don't be afraid to pin it to see what it would look like or safety pin it once you like it. It doesn't have to be a reproduction, it just has to look the way you want it to look with the rest of your pieces.
More Tips
TIP 1: Edging
If you want your edges to look nice - make sure you fold them over and sew them down before you lay out the cape.
TIP 2: Fullness
If you want fullness to stay, no matter how many times you take the cape on/off - consider adding tacks. Here is a closer look at those tacks.
Tacks: Are places where the fabric should stay - you start on the back of the fabric or the underside where no one will see and sew in the same place - making sure to go in the same place you came out. Why? Show we do not see the tack among the fabric.
TIP 3: Securing
There are a couple ways this garment can be secured now. Snaps, velcro, magnets are a couple of those options. I chose to place snaps at the top of shoulders where the seam of a shirt meets the neck line and the top of the arm where the sleeve seam would be in a shirt. The other side of the snaps will be sewn to the base tunic and help the cape from choking the wearer. Just like the tacks, you want to sew in the same place to hide those thread lines.
Velcro will later be placed on the bottom of the front to secure the cape under the Mandalorian chest armor piece. When the final velcro additions happen on this cape, you will be the first place to know.