Cape no Fear and a surprising announcement

There is something very appealing about a cape. Sort of matador, sort of hooded claw, or, in this case, sort of picnic blanket. Opps. Not exactly the look I was looking for. However it will be nice to feel I can be of use in an emergency picnic situation, like so:

You will notice how nicely the plaid matches up. This is because I am standing very carefully hiding the piece at the back that doesn't match at all.

Overall, this is a win and I am pleased to have finished it. It's lined, so that was worth doing for the practice and the handholes were made with a welt, another new skill. AND I got to use the blind hem foot on my machine for the first time.

Now for something really new. Usually I sew stuff one thing at a time, my approach to buying fabric is sort of "oooh, pretty, I'll have it" with no thought at all about putting items together. The words capsule wardrobe are anathema to me. So it is with wonder and delight that I reveal: I have made a mood board.

Tah dah!

I made this myself using www.beeclip.com. I collected the pictures on my www.pinterest.com account as I saw them, but essentially these are RTW items from Anthropologie, Shop Ruche or Monsoon. I have never made a mood board and there are probably courses on how to do this correctly but I'm afraid I just made it up (I am getting very devil may care recently!). OK, the details:

I want to make several items that are useful, Autumn/Winter pieces and that go together (a new concept for me). I am actually thinking this through and resourcing it before I start - also a new thing for me. So, I am going to skip the next two sewweekly challenges to get started. I am instead joining the Colette Patterns Fall Palette Challenge 2011 and teaming it up with the Fall Essentials Sewalong 2011 at Rhinestones and Telephones.

Colours: I have chosen the colours of the text on the board: navy blue, a dark bottle green, grey and a yellowy mustard accent colour.

I already have the blue velvet needlecord fabric and pattern for a cape style jacket from a reissued 1950 Vogue pattern. The rest of the details are still a little hazy, so I will use the next 2 weeks to think, plan, get stuff together and hopefully get started. Wish me luck!