Hooded cloak

Allison wanted to be her character from a fantasy role-playing game she plays. It was a very simple costume, requiring her to dress in earth-tones, have a hooded cloak, a sword, and a cat familiar. I had made the sword for her last Christmas -- since she uses it in the game, it has to be safe for hitting other kids with. It is a basic two-chambered broadsword consisting of a bamboo core covered with pipe insulation and duct tape, and some of my own decorative touches. The only thing we didn't already have was a hooded cloak, and since she wanted to be able to continue to wear it for the game, I wanted to make her a proper cloak, not just something that would make do for Halloween.

As it turns out, I have recently acquired a sewing machine, an old Singer picked up at a yard sale for $40. Since I've never used a sewing machine before, Google has been my friend, helping me figure out what the controls are, how to thread it, etc. This seemed like the perfect simple maiden project. Armed with 3 yards of fabric on sale at Joanns, and an online pattern (which I adapted somewhat because we wanted a somewhat shorter cloak than the adult size, and she also wanted it slightly fuller than the semicircular one in the pattern), and despite a few missteps w/ the sewing machine, I was able to turn out a respectable cloak in fairly short order for under $20 (for the fabric, thread, and frog closure that we use to fasten it). Of course, now the other two kids will want one too! Heck, if I had someplace to wear it, I'd want one too!