Reminder: the Marie, Charlotte, and Sophia patterns, and the combined pack with all three, are on sale until Tue 13 December NZ Time (so that’s Monday for most of the rest of the world) – don’t miss out!

It’s the final post in my series of posts on the inspiration behind the Marie, Charlotte and Sophie patterns.  Last, but absolutely not least, is, the Sophia:

The Inspiration:

The primary basis for the Sophia Mantle is this faaaaaaaabulous mantle from the Metropolitan Museum of Art:

Enormous hood?   Gorgeous fabric?  Fun trim?  What’s not to love!

While the Metropolitan Museum of Art example is particularly spectacular, late 18th century images of dress are full of examples of mantles with full pleated hoods that are wide enough to fall as collars around the shoulders:

(and yes, the innuendo in that image is very purposeful).

In addition to the many images of this style of mantle, there are a number of other extant examples, like this gorgeous pink satin one:

This wool short cloak, which, while it has a very different body, and different construction, is an example of a wool garment with this style of hood:

Other than the hood, this cloak is quite different to the Sophia, but is an interesting comparison point.  The Marie & Charlotte Mantle patterns cover the type of finishing seen on the cloak.

The Construction:

While some of the images of this style of mantle appear to show lighter weight unlined mantles, all of the extant examples (not counting the cloak, as is quite different in its pattern and construction) are more substantial lined garments.  They also have really fabulous trim: marabou and fringe and fur!

We decided to focus on a lined, hooded mantle with three trim options: fur, fringe, and marabou.

As it’s very hard to find modern fringe that matches the fringing on 18th century garments, we included instructions on making your own fringe.  It’s time consuming, but a wonderful way to give a really period finish to your garments.

And, of course, the Sophia can be mashed up with both the Marie and Charlotte.

Make it unlined based on the instructions for unlined mantles in either of those patterns.  Turn it into a hoodless wrap using their neck finish techniques.  Use the lace trim instructions in the Marie to trim it with lace, like the mantles shown in so many fashion plates and satirical prints.

Alter the hanging lappets to be rounded points based  on the Charlotte pattern.  It’s so adaptable!