Friday, January 5, 2024

Pattern Review: Keepers Dolly Duds Hooded Cloak

 I made the Keepers Dolly Duds Hooded Cloak pattern.

This uses only two pattern pieces, the hood and the body of the cloak.. The pattern piece for the body of the cloak is so big that it involves cutting out five different shapes on the paper pattern piece and taping them together.

I am really proud of myself because I made it this week after work, working on it little by little.

Usually, after work I am too tired to do anything except exercise. Exercising AND sewing can be one too many.


I made the cloak black and white with red trim and lining.

I was a little worried that is color scheme looks so modern. I don't really have a use for a modern cloak right now.

However, I have been told that houndstooth existed in Scotland in the 1800s and was known as Shephard's check or Dogtooth.

History of Houndstooth Link

History of Houndstooth 2

I was determined to do the trim. This is a little dangerous, because even if the sewing is perfect, imperfect trim can wreck my enjoyment of a project.

I used the pattern and a ruler to glue the trim in place with tacky glue. Then I waited for the glue to dry and sewed it in place.

The cloak looks pretty good! You can always leave the trim off if it makes you nervous. I saw a gorgeous cloak on Instagram lately that didn't have any trim on the outer cloak, but had embroidery on the lining instead. It was perfect.

I thought that the hood seems a bit tall for the doll's head. I like the look better with the hood down.

If you don't make the hood, then you only have one pattern piece to use!

The fit of this pattern is very good.

Can anyone explain to me why on many cloak and jacket patterns, the bottoms of the lining and the outer shell of the garment are finished separately and not sewn together? This doesn't make sense to me. It seems to me that sewing the two together would make the garment stronger. Especially on doll clothes where reducing bulk helps create a smoother look.

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