french cuffs

Pink Floral Butterick 4609 -- Front/Side
I have been sewing, I just haven't been writing!

I did another Butterick 4609 blouse in "trendy" rayon challis. I thought the color might look weird on me, I usually seem to look better in muted colors, but it actually seems to work fairly well for me.

I'm still totally fond of the French cuffs. I've been using the two connected buttons that the pattern says to use, but I'll have to eventually get a pair of real cuff links.

I've discovered that the 1.5" fusible tape from Cleaner Supply is the perfect width for stabilizing the front band, and makes the buttonholes about three zillion times easier. It's their own brand, but it's pretty much the same thing as stitch witchery, just wider.

Floral Blouse -- Without Neck Tie
I'll probably eventually do this pattern in silk too. It would probably work well with a charmeuse, although probably the blue charmeuse is the only one that would work well. The other couple of charmeuses I have are all large patterns that I'm not sure would react too well to a button-up blouse. ..And I'm still kinda afraid to actually use the charmeuse!

Burgandy Velvet: Synthetic burgandy velvet from a half-off red-tag sale at Joann.
I've been saying for ages that I'm going to make a cloak out of this burgandy velvet I found at a half-off red-tag sale at Joann. I got some in red and some in burgandy, and I used the red for a vest-like thing and a doublet for Kris.. and the stuff is absolutely murder to work with. It feels wonderful, but between being a synthetic that melts and having a pile that sticks straight out rather than having an actual direction, it's nearly impossible to press and slips and slides and shifts when I try to sew it. So I absolutely cannot use it for anything more complicated than a cloak.

So I decided to pull the velvet out to remind myself that I need to turn it into a cloak-- probably the one in Butterick 4377. But then I remembered why I haven't yet-- I can't decide what to line it with.

Generally I like silk as a lining, but a cloak requires too much fabric for that to seem practical. Wool might be nice, but it would have to be fairly thin and something I have enough of. The boiled wool would be too thick.
Would a dark olive tricotine work?
Or would the burgandy/dark olive combination end up with a Christmas-y red-and-green feel to it?
The turquoise gabardine would definitely not look right. I guess I will have to unearth the rubbermaid of wool to decide that. I need some type of organization that doesn't involve stacked boxes.

The one on the envelope cover is actually burgandy velvet-- but the lining is white, which I definitely don't want to do. I actually wear cloaks.