I’ve made various Victorian outfits for LARP, but I could also use a good cloak for when being outside during those events. Of course, there is never time to make one when you already had to sew a complete petticoat/skirt/bodice combination in preparation. However, the lockdown gives one time to do things one normally doesn’t get around to!
I had been playing with the idea for a while to make a really good, warm Victorian cloak that I could wear over all my outfits. A bit tricky, because I have outfits from 1860 (with a hoop) and outfits from 1870/1880 (with a bustle). So, actually, I would have to use different cloak types to accommodate them. After all, many beautiful cloaks from that era are tailored to the shape of the garment the owners were wearing. But then I came across the ‘talma wrap’: a wide cloak with room for a bustle, but which I think could also be worn perfectly well over a hoop if you tie it less tightly. Not entirely historically accurate perhaps, but for LARP that would work just fine.
However, a lockdown also means I can’t go fabric shopping, looking for the perfect fabric; it had to be bought online. The choice was very limited, so I had to make compromises. A synthetic fabric that looked like wool, and a color that looked somewhat okay, would have to do. It is for LARP, after all, not re-enactment; it doesn’t have to be historically accurate (although I would have liked it to be). I also ordered a few meters of flannel for the interlining, so the cloak would be nice and warm.
I still had lining fabric in my closet which I used. I realised too late that lining fabric is far too modern; in the Victorian era, they used a different type of fabric for that. I had made that mistake before, but apparently, I haven’t learned from it… 
Then the search for fringes began. There is a lot of fringe trim for sale online in the Netherlands, but it is almost exclusively synthetic junk. And you can see that very clearly. I got away with using the stuff for my polonaise dress, but only because the entire outfit consists of shiny material. The combination with a wool-like fabric would have been completely out of place. The only natural material fringes that were long enough and didn’t have a carnival color turned out to be sold out at the online store and could no longer be ordered. In the end, I put my principles aside and ordered fringes from AliExpress.
The sewing went quite easily, as the design isn’t very complicated. Only the collar gave me a headache. Or rather: symptoms of suffocation. Because although the coat has a very loose fit (the pattern only comes in size S-XL), the collar turned out to be way too tight! And I only found that out after everything had already been sewn on, including the buttonholes. Well, try turning the whole thing inside out and fixing it after that!
I had to cut out the top buttonhole as well, so an extra buttonhole was added at the bottom. And because of that, the row of buttons starts a bit low; actually, the top button should have been closer to the collar.
There were more collar-issues. The pattern apparently assumes that the collar overlaps when you button it up, instead of the ends meeting in the middle. However, the photo on the front of the pattern suggested otherwise. So what was it supposed to be…? There were also no markings on the pattern to show where the center front was and where the collar should therefore end, but the pattern for the collar was too narrow to span the entire distance from edge to edge. Since I had to make the neckline larger anyway, I just cut the entire collar again and made it a bit longer, but I couldn’t get it to look nice. I suspect this Truly Victorian pattern just isn’t quite right.
(The last image shows the talma wrap being worn with a bustle underneath.)
Hand-stitching all the fringes on was a lot of work, but fun to do. I like hand-stiching, it makes me zen!
I am not sure however if I like the end result. Even though there are straps on the inside that you use to tie the garment to your waist, the one-size-fits-all model is rather roomy for me; the sleeve panels hang almost to the floor at my height (I’m 1,59 meters), and the style just doesn’t suit me very well. Also, this color may not go well with the colors of my current Victorian outfits. Oh well, let’s see how often I can / will wear it. At least making it kept me occupied during covid time!
Time spent: 21 hours
Costs: €85,56 (€66,50 for the outer fabric and the flannel interlining, €19,06 for ribbon, buttons, and fringes)
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