When I was growing up in San Francisco, two brothers dominated the department store scene — I. Magnin was the store for fashionable affluent women, and Joseph Magnin catered to a similarly affluent, but generally younger and livelier clientele.
My mother shopped occasionally at I. Magnin, but on the rare occasion when I needed something a little closer to ´adult´ than my usual apparel, or outerwear that I was likely to wear for years, Joseph Magnin was the place to go. I hated shopping as much then as now, and was just as inclined then to keep clothing forever than as I have ever been, but this wonderful Joseph Magnin cloak was more than worth the cost (and the pain of entering a store).
It´s probably my most-favorite garment ever. In the late 60s-early 70s, when I bought this cape, San Francisco weather was perfection — with soft fog in the morning, burning off and often leaving a sunny afternoon before the fog returned in the evening. I´ve never been able to imagine a more perfect garment for that weather than this romantic cloak.
But it´s also traveled with me all through the United States: I´ve worn it on both coasts, in the midwest, and the mid-Atlantic, in every season, and all kinds of weather, except high summer and real heat. It was the perfect companion along the Mendocino coast, before it became modern Mendocino.
And it was the perfect wrap when I drove my 1965 VW beetle obsessively up and down Highway 1 in autumn and what passed for winter, the ocean roiling below, cool air pouring through the sunroof, fog often swirling around. And it once was a blanket on a perfect day on a cliff above Lake Michigan.
However, it has always had a major flaw. There are two melton ties to close the cape, but they were never very effective, and I always worried that the weight of the cape would pull the ties from their moorings.
So very early on I added a large hook and eye under the tie to keep the cape closed at the neck. That worked reasonably well, but this is a lovely, long, heavy cape, and I´m a small woman. Sometimes it ran away with me.
So I added a metal button and loop. For those keeping track at home, this button and loop are the *third* attempt at a usable closure!
Then I discovered vintage midwives´ capes, which suddenly turned up everywhere thanks to the popularity of the video series Call the Midwife. The midwives of Nonnatus House hopped on bicycles, ran and practically flew without ever losing their capes. The secret? Cross-straps going from the shoulder seams, wrapping across the torso, with a button at the back waist to secure the harness.
Obsessive image research turned up a ton of vintage military capes, some with ties like those on Call the Midwife capes, though it took a bit of digging to find images that showed just how simple the back waist anchor is — it´s usually just a single button.
Once that was sorted, I took a chance and ordered a woven wool-blend plaid online, hoping that the green variations would match my cape — and it did! It´s not the best quality fabric in the world, but the weave is tight and even, and it´s sturdy — which is exactly what was called for.
I cut the straps to be two inches (5cm) wide, and 33 inches (84cm) long when finished, with one-half inch (1.5cm) seam allowances. I´m pretty small; for a larger person, or if wrapped around bulkier sweaters, more length might be desirable.
I cut the straps in one piece instead of two, mostly because I just didn´t want to match four long plaid seams. This resulted in one seam along the center back (with matched plaid, thank you!).
You can see bold vertical lines on each side; I deliberately put them on the underside, because it´s very tricky to manage neat topstitching along lines so bold and obvious.
There are no clearly defined vertical lines on the right side of the straps, so the edge stitching isn´t competing with the plaid.
The straps are sewn into the darts at the shoulders. I was worried about placing too much stress on the melton, but happily, there are also upper chest darts, so I was able to anchor the straps there as well as along the shoulder darts.
The straps wrap around the waist, and button at the (more or less) center back. Amazingly, this is exactly what my cape needed to hold it perfectly in place — whether I´m sitting, walking, skipping or jumping!