Toddler Gleeman Cloak

You guys, I'm insane. 

No, really. Okay, maybe not really... but I do have this habit of getting in over my head with project ideas. 

So let me tell you about the latest accomplished insane project, but first some backstory: 

I married a geek. And as part of my geeky-wife duties, I read (and by read I mean listened to on Audible- ain't nobody got time to read all that!) the ENTIRE Wheel of Time series. If you haven't read this series, what I have made probably will make no sense to you, but I will try to describe it well enough you can appreciate it! So in the books there is a Gleeman who is, basically, a storyteller. But not just like 'go to your local library' storyteller. He's like an all-out entertainer, with music and vocal talent and all that jazz. And you know someone is a Gleeman by a special cloak they wear. The way I understood the description first time through is it is a cloak that looks like it has patches sewn in all over and when the wind ruffles the cloak, all the colors show. And if you turn it inside-out, it just looks like a regular cloak. 

So with that in mind, I decided I should make a Gleeman's cloak for my little girl, so here you have it!

This is where the insanity comes in. I didn't even look at a pattern for this (which I really should have, you find out later) So basically, to make it all cutesy, I bought three matching colors for underneath, and then a cutesy black for the regular outside look, and a matching spiral design for the inside. 

Okay now think about that. How are you supposed to sew this so that it shows all the colors without any raw edges showing? It was tricky. I basically just made a quilt with flaps! 

Unfortunately that is where a pattern would have been nice! Turns out a cloak is not just a rectangle tied around your neck, and I didn't realize this until I was on my very last layer! Bummer... But I kind of tweaked it so it ended up working without looking too odd... 

Anyway, so here it is! Finished product! It is kind of odd, and bulky, and weird to fold, but it's pretty cute on Kaitlyn! 

Oh, and I just opted on easy for the hood and did patchwork inside and seamless black on the outside. 

There she is! Not too bad, huh?!  

She never stands still! But I think these pictures give a good idea of what it looks like. 

I should also mention I made this large on purpose so that she can wear it for a few years. No point in all that hard work if she's only going to be able to wear it for six months! 

Well there you have it! I hope you enjoy it! 

Cost: $50 (yeah, fabric is not cheap!)

Time: well I started it a year ago.... I probably put at least 30 hours into it! 

If you were to follow a pattern, the cost would go up, but time would probably go WAY down!