Red Riding Hood?

I got this Herman Kay hooded cape at Goodwill for ten dollars a while ago. It's a nice, heavy, coat-weight wool with wonderful drape, and I saw immediately that with a little work it could be a perfect outer layer for colder weather.

First to go was the shallow hood; really more of a flap to tie around one's ears, and not terribly functional. As it was only connected by a serged seam, it was easy to remove without damaging the cloth. Then the big plastic buttons at the neck came off.

All the edges have been overcast serged to prevent fraying, and I decided that the best way to take care of that modern touch was to cover it -- something that would be accomplished nicely by the applique border I intended to work on.

Racaire (http://embroidery.racaire.at/) has always inspired me with her work, and so I hope she won't mind that I interpreted one of her spectacular motifs into a black border for my cloak. I made a stencil that I could use to make a repeated pattern, and cut it out of lightweight black wool (which was tricky for me, but more time-consuming than difficult) and here it is, pinned in place and waiting for me to stitch it on. (The white "spots" are the pins reflecting light.)

Except that I have no black thread. And as it's ten pm, I'll just be waiting to buy some tomorrow and start sewing then.

I think it looks pretty good! If you look very closely, you can see the chainstitch embroidery I started working on the front opening. The border is only going on the bottom and sides. I have a few other ideas that I'm thinking of to finish off this cloak, but I'll save those to show you later on.