Better Fit Friday -- The Too Erect Figure

Apparently it's possible to have posture that is just too good -- or maybe I'm just jealous.  Today's fitting problem is that of the Too Erect figure.  This causes the waistline to be too long at center back, and create fabric pools or wrinkles between the shoulder blades.

It is a quick fix as well, with just a single dart across the shoulders.

Start by making a cut across the back where the fabric pools are the greatest, leaving a hinge in the pattern at the arm scythe.  Then overlap the two sides, creating a dart that tapers to nothing at the arm scythe.  This will shorten the waist at center back, without adjusting the fit at the sides.

And there we have it, all of the fitting problems for the back bodice are fixed.  Next week we'll move on to second form of Full Bust Adjustment.  If you need a refresher on the first type we did, you can find it here.

As always, if you have any questions leave them in the comments below.  And if you have any types of fitting adjustment for the back bodice you'd like me to cover, leave that in the comments as well!

Thrifting!

There are so many holes in my wardrobe still that it can be hard to pin point exactly what they are.  When asked what the problem with my wardrobe is, I tend to just wave at the closet and reply "all of it".  However, one thing I've really noticed I'm missing, as the fall weather starts to roll in, are layering pieces.  While I've almost perfected my Portrait Blouse (version 4 should be perfect), which is a perfect under layer, I don't have a lot of cardigans to go over them.  

And so, off to the local thrift shop I went.  I'd been a few months ago, in the heat of summer, just to check it out, and there had been a huge variety of cardigans.  When I went this time, there was less of a selection.  It really is all about timing.  

Even still, I found two cardigans I like.  

 I chose the grey and the black because they were both neutral and fit with the colour scheme I already have in my wardrobe, as well as the one I'm building towards.  I also found a pair of knee high boots for a steel.  They look fabulous, unfortunately, after about ten minutes of walking the comfort level plummets.  Hopefully I can find some gel insoles to help with that.

 And in parting, a picture of Jager, the ridiculously photogenic dog.

All photography in this post was done by Misha Sgro.  She's a fabulous photographer and artist, you should all check her out.

Pattern Review: Butterick 5605

I really like this pattern.  I found the hardest part was sewing the gusset section of the bodice side to center pieces (in both front and back).  I'm not entirely satisfied with the fit of mine, and I'll show you why in the reveal next week, but it is a very comfy dress, with pockets, that's perfect for looking pretty while going about your day.

All of the waist shaping is done in the side pieces, which makes it really easy to transition between sizes.  The bodice is self-lines, which means the only finishing you have to do is top stitching.  Granted, one of the biggest flaws in my dress is the top stitching on the button tabs, but, it is easy finishing, despite not turning out well.

I find that it does look much better with a crinoline on.  Without it the long skirt is fairly limp, which is never really an attractive look.  I would have preferred a scoop or v neckline, as it turns out they look better on me.  However, the neckline published I'm sure looks very good on some people, and balances the low back well from a design perspective.

I think next time I make this dress, and there very likely will be a next time, I'm going to cut the bodice front on the fold.  And, if I can fit it onto the fabric, I might do the same for the skirt front.  I'll likely adjust the neckline as well, but other than a couple fitting changes beyond that, I love this dress.  It's a great dress to wear when you still want to be doing things and want pockets.

Next up: Spring Dress!

Excellent news everyone!  My three month probation has finally finished at work, which means my perks kick in!  The most exciting is the display program, which lets me make one outfit a month with all the materials supplied for me, in exchange for the garment hanging in the store for a month.

So, without further ado: Project April!

I'm going to be doing a version of Butterick 5605, view C (in the top right).  I got the pattern for Christmas and I was planning to make it for dinner with my fiancee's work, back in January.  If you recall, my stash-busting was my doom, and the dress got shelved.

So, on Saturday, my manager very kindly cut 4 meters of a gorgeous stretch poplin.  It is fairly light, cotton polyester, royal blue on lighter blue.  The pictures don't really do the colour justice, unfortunately.  It has a nice hand to it and I think it'll work really well with the skirt in this pattern.  There's enough body to fill out the back pleats, but its still light enough to fall nicely, especially over a petticoat.

This is truer to the colour

I've got two weeks to get the finished dress back to work, where it will hang for a month, and then it's all mine!  Needless to say, I'm fairly excited about this whole program.

Fabric and materials were provided by my employer in exchange for use of the dress as display for one month.  All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

Better Fit Friday -- The Round Back

Today for Better Fit Friday, we're going to look at the Round Back adjustment.  You can find all of the previous Better Fit Friday editions here.

A round back will cause drooping towards the armhole and the center back to be too short at the waist.  Measure how much length needs to be added at the center back.

At the bottom of the shoulder dart, make a slit from the center back to the arm scythe, leaving a hinge.  Make a slit through the shoulder dart leaving a hinge.  Spread the bodice back the amount that the center back was short.  This will widen the dart, creating a better fit through the back and arm scythe.

So, there we have it.  A nice simple alteration for today.  If you have any questions, leave them in the comments.  And stay tuned next week for the 'Too Erect Figure', our last bodice back adjustment.

Gertie's New Book for Better Sewing - A Review

At long last, I'm going to review Gertie's New Book for Better Sewing, written by Gretchen of Gertie's New Blog for Better Sewing.  It's been quite a while coming, since I got the book back in August.  I wanted to make something from the book before I came up with my complete review, and then the portrait blouse had some roadblocks.

But, here we are!

I've read the techniques section, as I said in my August pre-view.  It was very useful, it covered a lot of advanced techniques with simple instructions.  Some of the patterns require you to go back and use sections to develop pieces line facings or simple dirndl skirts.  I think that its a really good way of not only saving space on the pattern sheets, but also providing projects to use the new skills in.

I really like the designs in the book.  That was the main reason that I purchased it to begin with.  Unfortunately, I found the patterns to be a little bit difficult to work with.  Gertie has said that the sizing does not follow regular pattern sizes (from the Big Four), or ready to wear.  She developed her sizing based of her measurements as the median size 8.  While I'm sure this did simplify a lot of things in development, it means that any normal fitting adjustments you do won't work.

I also noticed a few flaws in the patterns.  Nothing huge, just things like pieces being slightly different lengths (like the front and back of the portrait blouse side seams).  As a few other reviews have mentioned, it looks like the darts in the sheath dress don't align from bodice to skirt.  Since the skirt is actually the same pattern as the Pencil Skirt, I'm guessing it just didn't get the double check it needed.

There were a few other things that I found made working with the patterns more difficult.  First, there are no finished garment measurements.  I think that since the book is filled with fitting advice that references the finished garment measurements, I think it was an oversight not to put it in.  It is also has no bust or hip markers.  Again, the book has numerous directions for adjusting fit that are based off the but or hip points, but they aren't marked.

Overall, I really respect Gertie.  She has accomplished quite a bit to go from blogger to published author and pattern designer for Butterick.  However, I don't know if I would say these patterns are up to the standard I would expect from a published book.  Conclusion:  The fitting information is wonderful.  However the patterns are not what I had hoped, or expected.

Better Fit Friday: Broad Back, Narrow Waist

This adjustment is similar to the adjustment made last week.  Last week, we broadened the back and the waist.  This week, we will be adjusting the back across the shoulders, but leaving it at the waist as is.  It is recommended for the 'young figure'.

To make this adjustment, slash the Bodice Back under the arm scythe and through the shoulder dart.  The piece with the arm scythe is then moved out to provide the necessary space at the shoulder blades.  Increase the shoulder dart by the amount of the adjustment.  This insures that when you attach the shoulders, the bodice front and back are the same size.  Redraw the line from the arm scythe down to the waist.  It will be a sharper angle thee previously to accommodate the width added.

 The rest of the Better Fit Friday series can be found here.  Thanks for tuning in, and stay tuned next week for the Round Back!

Plaid Trials

I've avoided plaid until now.  I've never sewn with patterns that need to be matched before.  But, there was a nice plaid at work.  And it was the end of the bolt, so I got it at 75% off.  So I decided to give plaid a shot.

Well, I cut very carefully.  And went to pin it together, only to realize that the fabric must have stretched at some point.  There was nothing I could do to get the horizontal stripes to line up perfectly.  But. half an hour later, I did in fact have a passable side seam.  And I am fairly happy with the skirt overall.

I think perhaps the pleats could use an ironing.  And I wish there was a little bit more fullness to the skirt.

Final Notes:  Don't expect to see a lot more plaids around here... I like the look, but half an hour for one side seam just isn't worth it!

Better Fit Friday - The Full Back

Today is the first Better Fit Friday from the Better Homes and Gardens Sewing Book.  As I mentioned in the last episode, we're going to start at the beginning and just run through all of their fitting changes.  I'm using the quarter scale slopers from Adele Margolis' book Making Your Own Dress Patterns.

Better Homes and Gardens begins alterations with the bodice back.  First they lengthen the bodice back so that the side seams are long enough.  This is done with a slash and spread just above the tip of the waist dart.  The first thing they look at then is the full back, which is what we are going to fit for today.

A Full Back adjustment may be required if the Bodice Back appears to be tight across the shoulders and there are pulls in the fabric under the arm scythe.  This fitting issue is caused primarily by rounded shoulders, which means that the shoulder darts need increased shaping to fit properly.

Deepened Dart (Orange)

The first thing that must be changed is the shoulder darts.  Start by deepening and lengthening the dart.  This may mean that the shoulder back is smaller than the shoulder front.  We'll adjust for that next.  However, for now, adjust the darts until they fit comfortably.

Next, determine how much width needs to be added at the shoulders.  Reach your arms forward and around to insure that you will have a full range of motion.  Then, check your side seams at the waist.  If they also pull to the back then you need to add width to the waist.  The amount required may be different.

Slash the Bodice Back from shoulder to waist, close the the arm scythe.  Make sure you leave both of the darts intact. Spread the two pieces based of the measurements you took above.  If the amount to be added is not the same at the waist and shoulder, angle the pieces so that more or less is added at the waist.  However, they must be gently angled lines, not a curve, or sharp angles.

Equal Adjustments (Left), Less Added to Waist (Right)

And there we have it!  Stay tuned next week for the Broad Back, Narrow Waist Adjustment.  (The people at Better Homes and Gardens had such creative names!)

Long Awaited Portrait

Today I bring you the long overdue reveal of my portrait blouse.  This is the first pattern I attempted from Gertie's New Book for Better Sewing, and I've mentioned my trails with it briefly before.  

The Portrait Blouse.

I made at least 2 muslins, and am fairly sure, though have no evidence, that there was a third in there somewhere as well.  Admittedly my fitting process was not particularly methodical, however, by the final muslin I was fairly happy with it.  

To the left is the version that Gertie recently posted to her blog, made from a stable knit, which is likely the best comparison to what mine should look like.  You can read more about it here.  I also used a fairly stable knit.  It has some stretch to it, but hangs and feels much like a cotton.  During fitting I lost the cap sleeves.  This was, I'll admit, accidental.  I did a narrow shoulder adjustment while fitting, because the shoulders seemed broad and I was getting pull lines.  However, I think that these are just part of the style, not necessarily a fitting issue.  In any case, by the time I moved into my fashion fabric I was happy with the muslin.

I'm not entirely sure what changed, but I'm significantly less happy with the final version.  The biggest flaw I think is that no matter which I do, the bust darts stand out and make an unattractive point. They also aim to a point far higher than my bust point.  It doesn't seem particularly noticeable in the picture, however, it is one of those flaws that can be all I notice.  Luckily, it isn't a complete scrap, as I can still wear it layered under other things, such as the cardigan in the first image (which I don't really like as I think it hides my waist, but will keep wearing until I replace it with something nicer). 

The other flaw in the top is that I didn't do a narrow hem, as instructed.  Instead, I used some narrow twill tape as hem tape.  And while it looks nice, and would have worked perfectly on a slightly heavier fabric, here it just turns the hem out a little bit, making a tiny ruffle.  Luckily, I usually wear it tucked in, and when I wear it out over jeans the ruffle is almost completely unnoticeable. 

Conclusion: I'd like to try this again, with a lighter fabric (like a crepe), before passing final judgement.  I''m not sure if my issues with the pattern are completely from my haphazard fitting methods, or not, but I do think at least a few of my issues are from the pattern.  I'll discuss that a little more when I post my full review of the book.

Better Fit Friday: Gertie Edition

Hello, and welcome to the first edition of Better Fit Friday!

For the first edition, I'm going to go through the Full Bust Adjustment Method that Gertie outlined in her book, Gertie's New Book for Better Sewing.  In future installments, I'm going to go through the Better Homes and Garden's Sewing Book.

I've cut out quarter scale sloper pieces, from Making Your Own Sewing Patterns (my review), and I'll be preforming all of the adjustments on these small patterns.

Onward!

New lines in Orange!

The Gertie FBA

Step 1:  Identify the bust point.  This is usually half and inch, to an inch about the tip of the dart.

Step 2:  Draw a line from the waist dart, through the bust point to the arm scythe.  Draw another line from the bust point, through the bust dart.  And a third line across the bodice from the first line.  Your bodice should look like the one to the right.

Step 3:  Cut up the first line, leaving a hinge at the arm scythe.  Cut across the second line leaving a hinge at the bust point.  And cut all the way across your third line.

Step 4:  Tape some paper behind your pattern so that you can fill in the gaps you're about to make.

My lines is in blue.  And a little short...

Step 5:  Now we add the width.  In this example, I'm going to add 1/4 inch.  So, measure over 1/4" (or however much you need to add) from the line through your waist dart, and make a parallel line.

Step 6:  Open your waist dart, from the hinge at the arm scythe, until you are on the line you drew in the last step.  The tip of your bust dart will have shifted over and down.  Tape it down.  Your waist and bust darts will both be larger now.

Step 7:  Shift the other piece of your pattern down until it is level with the section you just moved.

You will need to true your darts, redrawing them so that they still go to the bust point.  And voila!

The finished pattern is to the left.  All of the space we just added is coloured in to make it easier to see.

If you have any questions, leave a comment below, and I'll do my best to clarify. And I hope you enjoyed today's edition of Better Fit Friday!

In a Funk and Un-Historical

Well, as you can tell, I'm not doing so well with Historical Sew Fortnightly.  It seems I have fallen into a little bit of a sewing funk, well to be honest, a general funk that has affected my sewing.

I've realized that the projects I'd planned for the Historical Sew Fortnightly were mostly just projects to fit the themes, not necessarily projects that I would make us of.  And, at the moment, that doesn't make sense for me.  With my limited funds, and limited time, I don't want to waste either making projects simply to have met a challenge.  Right now, for me, it's more important that each piece I sew can be put into my wardrobe.  So, at this point, I'm bowing out of the challenge.

However, today will not be a day only of doom and gloom.  I have some good news as well.

Firstly:  I'm employed!  I started working at a fabric shop in mid January.  It's right near where I live, which means I've been walking to work most days, and there are some awesome perks once my probationary period is up.  Of course there is a staff discount.  But there is also the Garment Display program, where I can make current patterns (from lines the store carries) and my supplies will be given to me either free or at cost in exchange for them having the garment as a display for a month.  I'm really looking forward to giving it a try.  I'll be able to make my first in April, which is the same month the new catalogs come out, so I'm not certain if I'll be in time to make anything from this release or not, but either way, it should be an awesome way to get some sewing in.

Secondly:  I may be starting a second job!  I've always heard that they best way to find a job is to have a job, and maybe it's true.  One of the ladies I work with also works doing alterations at a dry cleaners.  They were looking for another seamstress, so I've been introduced to the boss and I'm to start next week.  I'm a little nervous, but we'll see how it goes.  Stay tuned.

Thirdly:  Just because I haven't been sewing Historical doesn't mean I haven't been sewing.  I've finished my Portrait Blouse, so stay tuned for a reveal post and a review of Gertie's New Book for Better Sewing soon.  And I've got a finished plaid skirt to show you as well.  And two more projects underway, including my first authentic vintage pattern!

Fourthly:  I'm considering starting to do a Better Fit Friday series where I go through pattern adjustments on 1/4 scale patterns.  Would there be any interest in following along?

Christmas Circle Skirt

In all of the kerfuffle around the holidays I forgot to show you the circle skirt I whipped up.  It was a quick job, finished the morning before the family Christmas party.  I'm fairly happy with it, though I did learn an important lesson about sewing machines.

Photographer-fiancee is still in training...
I'll remind him to back up next time ;)

I've almost never sewn on machines that weren't a similar price point and technical level to my own.  My best sewing friend has a machine that's similar to mine, though a different make.  And the machine I learned to sew on was my mother's vintage machine she inherited from her aunt, but that hadn't been for a tune-up any time in my memory.

As was bound to happen eventually, my mother's sewing machine finally bit the bullet.  She doesn't sew a lot any more, so she decided to replace it with one of the super-cheap Walmart sewing machines.  I didn't discover this until I couldn't find the sewing machine in the basement because I was looking for the wrong one.  Now, the new machine does in fact sew, and even has a few different stitch options.  However, I did notice some things were lacking, primarily the foot pressure and the feed dogs (that move your fabric through the machine).  This resulted in uneven stitches that tended to jump around at little bit.  I also noticed some skipped stitches.

Now, to be fair, this was fabric I had gotten at Walmart to test out.  The fabric itself worked fairly well for this project though.  It was really more of a canvas-type fabric, which helped give the skirt a lot of body I think.  However, it frayed terribly, so I do need to go back and add bias binding to the waist seam.  The waistline also seemed to have warped quite a bit between when I cut it out and when I unpacked it at my mother's to finish sewing.  I had probably an extra 4-6 inches, so I added some gathers while attaching it to the waistband, which I think turned out nice enough.

I used a pattern generously posted here by Casey of Elegant Musings.  The pattern is from a 1954 Smart Sewing booklet.  Instead of the traditional circle, the waist line of the skirt is a little bit more of an oval, which makes the skirt hang a little bit differently.  It is still just as quick to sew up though.

Now I just need to make a day wear petticoat to go under it.  The one I have is shortened from my step-mother's wedding dress, so is a little full to wear from day to day!

The Not-Historical Fortnightly Dress

I don't really want to show you this dress.  I'm sure I'm not the only one who's had a project that just doesn't seem to work no matter what you do?  Well, this was one of those dresses.  I did have it 'finished' but I couldn't wear it to dinner Saturday night.

It also occurred to me that I wouldn't be able to submit this as my Historical Fortnightly entry this month as it was no longer made from a printed pattern.  More on that later.

As I mentioned, I'd decided to use the jersey fabric I had in my stash and drape a pattern myself.  Well, it took me a little while to realize that I could trace a tank top that I already know fits me to make the pattern for the base of the dress.  And then, being so excited by this brain wave, that I forgot to widen the straps into kimono sleeves before cutting the front piece out.  Fine, I thought.  That's fine I can work with that.

Not what I had envisioned, but so far, it
doesn't look that bad...

I got the base sewn together, and could not for the life of me get the gathers to lie flat on the base.  I did the best I could and moved on.  The skirt went fairly smoothly, which was nice, because that means at least something did with this dress.

But once the skirt was sewn on the whole dress pulled forward from the weight.  Well, that's ok too,  I can just add a waist stay.  I'm not sure if my fabric stretched, or if I added less ease to the waist stay than to the waistline of the dress, but the stay was a few inches shorter.  So, rather than sewing it in, I just tacked a few places across the front and at both side seams.  Which, lead to a lumpy and unflattering waistline.

Sadly, it's back to the stash for this...

So, I wore a back up dress to dinner, and will likely be taking this back apart and making something else.  Perhaps I'll try something with a pattern...

The Woes of Stash Sewing

I finished tracing and cutting out the pattern for Butterick 5605 last night.  I made a muslin and a few more tiny adjustments, adding a bit of width across the back and raising the scoop to cover my bra as well as pinching out a bit of excess in the front neck line.  I started laying out the pieces to cut only to discover that I had nowhere near enough fabric.

The pattern envelope calls for 5 3/8 yards of 45" fabric.  I had already decided not to line the dress with my fashion fabric which would cut down the requirements a little bit.  Unfortunately, it does not cut it down to 3 1/2 yards, which is what I have in my stash.  In fact, three and a half yards is not even enough to cut out all of the skirt pieces... Talk about a fabric hog!

There is one possible way to cut this dress from this fabric, and involves a style sacrifice and a cardinal sin of sewing.  The style sacrifice is pinching out the pleats in the back of the skirt.  I really like that style element, however, if that was all that was required, it was a sacrifice I was willing to make.  The cardinal sin is cutting one piece upside down.  Now, this isn't always a problem.  However, I'm working with a satin, and even though it looks like there isn't a nap to the fabric, I'm certain that once the dress is made up the side back piece would look like a completely different colour of fabric.  I've been there before, and I'm not going to make that mistake again!

And so, back to the drawing board.  Unfortunately, being on the budget of the unemployed, I can't really justify going out to buy new fabric, tempting as it is...  So, that leaves me with a very large piece of jersey.  I sew very little with jersey, and though I do like the print, I'm not sure why I would have felt the need to but four yards (at least) of it for my stash.  However, maybe I should be more thankful, because now I can use it to make a dress.

I'm attempting to drape a pattern that will in the end look something like the dress from Simplicity 1168, but with kimono sleeves and a v-neck rather than the original sweat heart halter.  I'm not hugely fond of draping directly onto my own body, however, difficult times call for difficult measures.  And I need a dress by Saturday!

Historical Sew Fortnightly #1!

As I mentioned last time, I've decided to do a half marathon of Historical Sew Fortnightly Challenges.  My first challenge is Innovation, due on Feb 1st.

I've decided to feature the printed pattern as my innovation.  Butterick Patterns have been an innovative company since beginning the production of graded patterns back in 1863.  You can read the company's full history on the Butterick History site, but I'm going to skip ahead to 1948.

In 1948, the Butterick manufacturing headquarters had just moved to Altoona Pennsylvania.  Two new printing presses were brought in with the new manufacturing plant, and the printed pattern was born.  To quote their history:

The 'printed pattern' was the most significant improvement of home sewing patterns since its invention. What a joy it was for the home sewer to have bold dots, notches and lines replacing the little holes that previously marked darts, matching points and foldlines!

The pattern I am using is Butterick 5605, which is a reprint from 1956.  As you can see, it has a cute back detail and a fairly simple front, with a tea length skirt.  I'm using View C, in the top right corner.

Butterick 5605

So far, it has been pretty simple.  I've traced out the pieces and adjusted them for size.  I'm using size 22 in the bust and size 20 in the waist.  The bodice is 8 pieces (Center front, side front, side back and center back) with all of the waist shaping don on the side pieces.  So, I've cut the center front and back in straight size 22, while the side pieces transition from 22 to 20 at the waist.  

Construction seems fairly simple, with the exception of one thing, sleeve gussets.  This will be a new technique for me, so we'll see how it goes.  But I have found a number of helpful-seeming tutorials on the web so far.  First, from Karen at Did You Make That? an excellent tutorial with some quick tips and helpful hints (including a warning for your house-mates!). The second is from Gertie, at Gertie's New Blog for Better Sewing.  Although this tutorial is designed for a two piece gusset in a dress with a two piece bodice, it was still helpful to read about the process before giving it a go here.

So, I'll get back to you on how it goes.   Here's hoping!  (Oh, and did I mention I need to finish it in exactly one week to wear to a dinner with my Fiance's new company?)

Catch-Up

December was a pretty frantic month.  The most exciting thing happened right at the end of the year, when my boyfriend proposed at the stroke of midnight on New Years.  This was definitely my best new years ever, and the most amazing way to start 2014.

A few days before that we moved into Ottawa proper, which has also been wonderful.  I've only been here a few days, but it is so nice to be back in a city again.  We're able to take public transit anywhere, which is a big change from the small town.

So far, its been a fabulous year.  And I think there's plenty more to come that'll make 2014 a year to remember.

2014 will also be a year of sewing.  I've decided to attempt a Half Marathon of the Historical Sew Fortnightly hosted by The Dreamstress.  I've decided to complete even number challenges, meaning I'll be starting with Challenge #2:  Innovations. The only sight alteration I'm making to the rules is the definition of 'Historical'.  I want to make sure that my projects won't be closet ornaments.  The official rules state that Historical runs until the end of WWII (1945), however, I'm going to extend the time period until the end of the 1950s, as it is the 40s-50s that I am interested in.

The first four challenges have been published so far, and so here is a run down of what I'm thinking of making for each.  Of course as I get to work there will be at least a reveal post for each one.

Challenge Number 2: Innovations:

According to their website, In 1948 Butterick began to produce printed patterns in 1948.  Not too long after that (ok, almost a decade is a bit of a stretch, but stick with me) in 1956 Butterick 5605.  And that will be my first project for a dinner with my fiancee's new work.

Challenge Number 4: Under It All:

A challenge devoted to under-things.  I'd already decided to try and make the Bullet Bra from VaVoom Vintage, and now I have the perfect opportunity.

Challenge Number 6: Fairy Tale:

I don't think it will really come as a surprise, if you've been following for any length of time now, but I'm going to make Little Red Ridinghood's cape.  The cape pattern I've mentioned a few times here was among the patterns that I got for Christmas, and although the timing is not idea for a nice warm red wool cape (being due on April 1st, that is exactly what I'm going to make!

That's it for now.  Tune in next time for a Historical Fortnightly Challenge #2 update!