French Cape in Lieu of an Inverness??

[Riverkilt]

Dang, that's BRAVE!! I sew, I bleed is my clan motto. And from a pattern no less.

Get good at it with wool and you might have some buyers on this board. And YES lets see a photo puleeze.

And, hey, I used to date a very lovely lady from Vancouver, WA back in the middle 60's... be still my heart...down memories, down!!

Ron

[vmac3205]

Okay, I give up. How do I insert a photo?

<

[ForresterModern]

Join at photobucket.com, make a file folder there then upload your picture. You can click on the listing below the photo to get the actual web address. Copy it then return to the forum you want to post it in. Open the "post reply", type in your reply, then some spaces, then [img] then paste your picture's URL, then type [/img] and it should make the connection. If it doesn't, change the second part to [img/] and see if that works.

[ForresterModern]

I just ordered a couple weeks ago a custom made wool tweed Inverness cloak from an american designer who does a lot of period reproduction clothing on spec, and mine just arrived a day or two ago, not enough time to do much more with it than try it on to check the fit. Have not had time to get photos up yet but will follow shortly---I am going out of town for a few days so be patient.

The site is twinrosesdesigns.com, and they have a whole variety of different cloaks with options on fabrics, buttons and clasps, etc. If you are contemplating a cloak purchase you should check out the site. They have some stock stuff made up and available for immediate shipping, or they can do a custom job for you. Garry was great to talk with on the phone, manages the web site and business part of things, and Andrea is the fabric designer and artist who puts it all together.

Mine was a custom Inverness Cloak in heavy coat weight black/grey/white check tweed wool with a black lining, with special silver thistle button closure, and made to my rather large size (54xl jacket) and length and it only cost a little over $300 plus shipping. Mine is virtually department store quality winter weight weight with that special touch of the hand made workmanship to it, and essentially unique, as they pretty much do a custom business. Mine took only a couple weeks from order to receipt, and the ordering process was not much different than that for ordering a kilt jacket or a kilt. A few measurements that they will talk you through over the phone--very easy. A picture of one nearly identical to mine is available on their website under wool cloaks, along with what they have as in stock items, one in black for under $200. Worth checking out.

I will be wearing mine for winters when I head back north, and may take it with me to Scotland next week if the weather forecast is at all on the chilly side.

If you call them, tell them Jeff Foster referred you and mention that I posted on X-marks for them. Like I said, pictures of mine will be forthcoming, but you can see their stuff on their website twinrosesdesigns.com . Best price for a quality wool Inverness on the web, and I have done a lot of searching. For only 2-3 times what you would spend for a decent nylon or duckcloth one, why not have the real wool thing?

[vmac3205]

Here is the one I made. The cape is lined, and there are slits in the sides for pocket access. I need to do some shopping to find a good supply of coat weight tweed. When I do that, I would be happy to sew one up for interested parties. I figure that the cost of the material, plus $150 should cover it.

[auld argonian]

VMAC, that is absolutely great. Really nice.

Best

AA

[Ryan Ross]

Beautiful work. Even the light weight fabric looks very nice.

[vmac3205]

Actually, that is a fairly stout upholstery fabric, and actually worked pretty well. Of course it isn't wool. I wanted to be sure the pattern would work before I invested in wool. We'll Scotch Guard the garment, and should be good for even the PNW Games in Seattle. THere is usually a big downpour just as the clan parade starts.

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

While cleaning out my closet I came across a superb wool cape I forgot I had-- it's cadet grey (which is a medium grey), lined red, with on inside breast pocket. It has a fold over collar, closes up the front with six button, and has six knotted frogs as well.

This is the sort of cape worn at West Point, VMI, The Citadel, etc. It's long (I'm just over 6 foot and it hangs about two inches above the floor. Size is probably 42 as I'm a 44 and it almost, but not quite fits. It's heavy-- it gets cold at West Point in the winter-- and with a little home tailoring this would make a very dressy day wear cape. Someone with a bit more skill could shorten it, and use the excess to turn it into a really show stopping Ulster.

If any X Markers are interested, PM me-- otherwise it will go on eBay the end of next week with a "buy now" price of $150--

I'll post photos (if I can figure out how to do it) on the FOR SALE thread tomorrow after I get back from the Richmond Games.