[Nuranar]

Imagine this...After two years of surfing sites, imagining what I'd like to do if I had time and money, and searching endlessly for fabric, I can finally post on one of these costume threads!<P>Not to imply that I'll be completely outfitted or anything. But over Thanksgiving I <I>finally</I> found wool for a cloak! I've been wanting to do the pattern on alleycatscratch.com, but I've had to wait for the material (and the time). See, I'm a Civil War reenactor and most of my money goes into that. It also means I'm dedicated to natural fibers. Now that I finally found my lightweight (but not too light, like men's suiting) wool, I can have cloak to wear at events that aren't cold enough for my heavy wool-lined-with-flannel cape.<P>So the fabric itself is made of dark gray, light gray, and blue threads, with a little dark green. From a distance it blends into a nice blue-gray. And it's smooth, but the light gray keeps the texture from appearing too slick, since it's not fuzzy like the actual fabric. I've got it cut out, though, and it flows oh-so-nicely.<P>And incidentally, did I mention I'm sewing this by hand? Hey, when you're away at college, you make do with what you have! I can't exactly lug a sewing machine and all its paraphenelia with me, but my hands work just as well. I love handsewing!<P>I got a nice pin on eBay - NOT a leaf brooch. (Part of being a living historian - I don't like to copy things exactly; I want to portray someone who <I>could</I> be there, not an actual character.) I'm very pleased with it - it's a 2-inch Maltese cross (or similar to a Maltese cross) set with several ebony-like round stones. It looks a bit Ranger-ish or Gondorian to me.<P>Unfortunately, I've hardly progressed on the rest of the ensemble. So I'll be wearing jeans (since I lack other trousers at the moment), brown riding boots, and some kind of shirt. Oh, but I do have my wooden sword - hehe. Amazing what you (and your brothers) can whittle out of yard sign stakes. (Just don't use the ones with knots in them - they tend to break right there when you're sparring. )