The real one will be for the new baby, but I used Kuzzles (not yet 1) as my model here.
But I did have on hand a scrap of wool felt (I think it was 34" x 23"?), so the cloak length had to be 17"), and some of a brown sheet...sooo...
Here was my piece of felt. I cut out a simple half circle, and then cut a half circle neck out of that. The radius for the big half circle was 17", and the radius for the neck was maybe 2-3 inches, so 4 to 5 inches in diameter? (this ended up giving a neck that was too tight, around 13" long...next time the neck is going to have to be bigger)
| Here is the piece of felt, folded in half, cut up. The semicircle is the cloak part. The hood is the rectangle. |
I sewed the rectangles together and tried it on the the baby for size....
She resisted.
Even with Grandma's assistance, this was all we got.
So I went off to find Jenny, who put up with being a test subject for me.
As I suspected, the simple rectangle method came out a bit too pointy for my taste.
So I just trimmed a tad off of the top.
Like in the illustration. And I cut 2 darts in the cloak shoulders (to get it to hang better)
| Cutting out the shoulder dart. |
Then I bag lined the hood with sheet scraps, and tried to bind the inside of the neck with a strip of sheet, so there wouldn't be scratchy bits poking there...
She didn't want to wear the cloak. Maybe it was because it was 96 degrees outside....
| A miserable hobbit. |
She picked up a rock...shot be a doubtful glance....
And tried to eat it.
Aaand then...
She was done.
Things I'll do differently next time (in April, for the sewalong)
- Make it out of Jersey Knit, it will be less stiff and less warm
- cut the neck hole bigger

I laughed so hard at that miserable hobbit picture...her expression says everything! This looks fabulous, even if it is too warm for regular wear. I live in CA, so I know a little bit about that issue, although not as much as you in AZ!
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DeleteI think I'm going to try to make one out of a knit material, or maybe a lightweight woven and see if I have better luck with getting them to wear those....a baby in an elven cloak is just too cute.