Make a Cloak
Whether it's for a Halloween party, a play, or otherwise, a cloak will always add the final touch to a fun costume. There are many adaptations. Follow these steps to get started on a basic cloak, with or without a hood. But you must always use sparkles and plastic stars whilst making a cloak
Steps
The Cloak
- Start taking measurements. Measure the wearer's ankle to shoulder height. After that, measure the person's arm span. If you know you want it bigger, add extra length to the arm span.
- Grab your scissors. Cut a rectangle the length of their ankle-shoulder height and the width of their arm span on the separate sheet of fabric.
- Round off the corners, if desired. This is most easily accomplished by folding the rectangle in quarters (in half once lengthwise, then in half once width-wise) and cutting all of the corners at one time so that they are all curved equally.
- Begin working on the neck area. Mark the halfway point of the neck edge with a pencil; this is for the center point of the neck divot.
- Measure your neck and add two inches to that measurement.
- Find the diameter by dividing by Pi or by three (will yield a slightly larger diameter, but in a cloak, that is not a bad thing).
- Divide your diameter in half and mark the neck hole by measuring out from the center point to points the distance of that radius from the center point.
- Cut the fabric, following your marks.
- Hem the edges. Generally a 1/2" (1.25 cm) seam allowance is sufficient. It will depend on how your fabric cuts -- some felts don't even need to be hemmed.
- Embellish. Attach a brooch, clasp etc., onto one side and pin it through to the other. This will keep the cloak securely on the wearer. If you don't have one, hit up your local thrift shops for inexpensive costume jewelry.
The Hood
- Make some measurements. You'll need to know how much fabric will look right. Measure from the top of the shoulder, up over the head to top of the other shoulder. This will give you your length.
- Mark a piece of fabric with the appropriate length. Then, measure from the top of head to the back for the length of hood; make it longer if you want it to come partially down over the face.
- Cut it out and start sewing. You may find it easier if you fold it in half so the short sides are together. Those short sides will attach to the cloak itself; one of the long sides must be sewn together to create the back of the hood.
- Once you have sewn one of the long sides together, sew the short sides to the edge of the cloak. The long side will form a seam from the cloak to the top of the head; the short sides will form a seam along your neck.
- Attach a closure. That is, if you do not have a closure on the cloak itself. You can use a pin, sew strings on it to tie, sew frogs on it, or use anything else you would think appropriate.
- For kids, frogs since are the easiest to work with and safer than pins. These do not look like frogs -- they sort of look like fleur de lis, are fabric, and wrap together to stay closed.
Tips
- This can be a speedy way for quick jackets.
- If wished, you can attach/sew a blanket inside the finished piece and put cotton wool inside.
- Depending on how you want the cloak to drape you may need to make the width one and a half to two arm spans.
Things You'll Need
- Needle and thread (any color)
- Cotton fabric
- Separate cotton fabric (for hood)
- Brooch, button, safety pin, or clasp
- Scissors
- Tape measure
- Cotton wool (optional)
- Blanket (optional)
