It's Dave's birthday, and I surprised him with a warm cloak in the style of Game of Thrones. As he was preparing to head to the gym and was wearing shorts, he would only let me take a pic from the waist up, but later on I'll add a full length shot and show some of the details. I made the body of the cloak from a coat-weight, coarse-woven bit of wool. I'm not sure what kind of animal (sheep, goat, alpaca?) gave the fleece for the wool, but it smolders and goes out almost instantly when subjected to a burn test. It's wonderfully warm.
The fur around the shoulders is wolf. Yes, it's real. But it's also vintage, so if you feel bad about an animal dying to make this fur, then you can rest assured that it would long ago have died of natural causes by this time anyhow.
As you can see in this inspiration picture, the cloak is fastened by way of two leather straps which attach at the shoulders. I did a little research and believe (though I've not been shown any evidence from the GoT series or costumers) that the straps continue around the body and are fastened at the back with a buckle. I used two matching leather belts and they worked perfectly, though there weren't quite as wide.
It's a good thing I made my plan to construct this cloak way back in August, because it took me a long time to find all the pieces I needed -- especially the fur. That was a real steal at Goodwill for only $20.
I've been searching for somewhere I can find a cloak similar (doesn't really need the fur) or find the materials to make it. From what I've seen and read, the leather crosses over the chest then wraps round the body and does up round the front like a belt around the belly area, it's usually hidden under armour or clothes (except the crossed part over the chest as shown)
ReplyDeleteStraps wrapping around the body and then fastening at the front certainly would be easier to put on. You could run the straps through a leather keeper at the back so everything stays straight and in place.
ReplyDeleteWhat I like best about this fastening method is how it eliminates the problem a lot of cloaks have of creeping up your neck to choke you. It distributes the weight of the garment nicely -- and wool cloaks are really heavy!