Cloak help needed

[Athalia Jewel]

My husband has decided that he wants a cloak, and he asked me to make it for him. So I have two questions: Who makes a good cloak pattern, and what is the best type of material?

[Mairi the Herbwench]

Best type of material: Is he allergic to wool? When does he want to wear it? Will it be in the rain, heat, snow, cold? My preference is wool, lined with a windproof lining and with a hood, but it gets cold and wet here in MN. Corderoy is also nice, but if it gets wet it's not as suitable as wool. We do a lot of over-fire cooking, and in addition to being somewhat water repellant, wool is also somewhat fire retardant. My first cape was polar fleece - a plaid - it looks like wool but I'm not allergic to it. However, it's NOT flame retardant (I have a melted corner) and it's not windproof - it is pretty water proof, however. If you live somewhere warm, a heavy linen might be better - lining a cape always makes it hang better.

Good pattern? I don't use a commercial one - just a very simple one my sister drafted. Check out http://www.gbacg.org/Patterns/index.html for comments by others, too.

Have fun!

[Isabella]

I've done a gored cloak before. Worked great, and was easy. You do it just like a gored skirt, and make it as many pannels of splits and solids as you want.

Just remember to pleat it so it looks good, and add a nice full hood. :)

[Bronya]

I have made several cloaks with McCalls# 8936-B..I have enlarged for a mans cloak.It is the perfect size and has a huge hood, you can even cover over a strawhat with the hood its so big. I made one with 2 colors of corduroy with the wale inside and it was plenty warm for here in Calif. I also made one for my friend in NY using 2 different kinds of heavy tweed and he just scotchguarded it.While that fabric won't protect you from the freezing cold of the Eastern winters, for early fall or spring it works well. Good luck