ESB Cape Appears to Have Seems

I am surprised there is not tutorial in the soft parts templates for the cape. This is one part of the costume that no one seems to give much thought to. As I am researching the cape, the one thing that strikes me is that I have yet to see a fan cape that drapes like the original. I, like others, am of the belief that the ESB cape was part of a blanket.

I picked up an old wool blanket that I recently cut and dyed. It drapes like the real thing and just seams more correct. I will post a picture soon, but I have notice that the ESB cape appears to have seams. One running across the stripe. one on the leading edge and one that appears to make a shaped shoulder. Check out the picture. Thoughts?

I agree with ya on it being a lighter material like wool by the way it drapes and sways. Good eyes on seeing the seam, I didn't see that till now.

Your evidence seems pretty compelling so far. I wonder what Rafal will have to say on it?

Upon looking at more images, I am not so sure the shoulder has a seam. I may just be a fold, but I think there still unanswered questions on the cape.

I don't believe that the bottom one is a seem, probably just a fold.

Could even be a thread that was pulled out...not sure if that sounds right but like Ive seen when a thread is messed up in my ABU theres like a seam looking line but its not a seem.

If you look up the same HD pic in the gallery the bottom line is just a defect of some sort in the fabric there are no stitches. I've researched the cape to some extent and done some tests with wool and I couldnt iron a hem in the edges that sharp it just wouldnt do it. There are 2 pics in the gallery also that show the orange stripe is on both sides as well. The fabric does look like a very light weight wool or wool blend but I've searched high and low and havent found both correct colors. When enlarged the line between colors is razor sharp and there are no topstitches either.

I've toyed with the idea of having a run of custom wool done with the stripe but these would be pricey capes likely for the purist.

I have to agree with woodman! I did an image compiled with HD images of the ESB cape (warning: huge image) and in most of them the line pointed out by SPY007 seems like a fold line in the fabric, similar to blankets when you fold it in half then again in half then put it away for later use; after a while when you unfold the blanket you'll notice those specific fold lines as seen in the ESB cape:



The only cape similar to the ESB style with stitches only around the edges is the Pre-Pro #1 cape (the ROTJ cape is NOT the reused Pre-Pro #1 cape) but it differs in color and material:

Again Raf shows us just how much he is the master of all things fett. This may seem a bit dumb but there isn't any documentation on what the cape is made of or what it actually is?

Yeh its nothing heavy looking at it it seems like a simlar canvas type material like the Shelter.

Would canvas drape that nice though?

Raf,

That's great...... you are a continued source of great info and personally help me to make mine better all the time.....

Originally Posted by Major

Raf,

That's great...... you are a continued source of great info and personally help me to make mine better all the time.....

Thanks! I try to do my best.

25" long is very short my capes are 36" long. Mine are 30" wide.

Originally Posted by woodman

25" long is very short my capes are 36" long. Mine are 30" wide.

You were partially right about the length. I did another measurement and I was 'rewarded' with an extra 130 mm, so I got a total 780 mm (30.71 inch) long cape, which means that the cape had a square shape (at least according to my measurements).

i'm of the opinion that the cape was the old military style wool blanket.



maybe even one of the red stripe, red cross ones that was left out in the sun too long or something. sun bleach can do some crazy color changes..

I looked fabric tonight called wool suiting, much thinner than a blanket. It looks great, but it still seemed to thick to allow for the nice hemmed edges seen in some movie stills. Those hems appear to have a double fold. I no longer think the cape was made from a blanket. Could a stripe have been spray painted or dyed? I seem to recall some one on the site saying they used dye to create a stripe. Rafel Fett. Your template look great and explains why the cape appears to over the shoulder.

Heck, any kind of bleaching can do weird things to colors. I was attempting to permanently weather some soft parts with cloth dyes when it all went wrong. To get rid of it (and the underlying fabric color for a re-dye), I used RIT's color remover. While my ESB flightsuit managed to somehow retain its original color yet bleach out the offending pinkish hue, my ESB cape turned green with a yellow stripe. Weird.

After experiencing that, I can get onboard with JimmyC's suggestion about the interesting color changes that any sort of bleaching can do.

Originally Posted by SPY007

Rafel Fett. Your template look great and explains why the cape appears to over the shoulder.

Thanks!

Come on someone make these so I can buy one...lol

I'm going to switch to the dimensions Raf provided but I wont be switching to wool until concrete proof comes to light that it is in fact a wool fabric. Wool is very expensive and while the Khaki color may not be difficult to find the strip color will be it's just not a style current color. Switching to wool will also make these capes much more costly. Wool suiting is$20-$25 per yard.

Originally Posted by woodman

I'm going to switch to the dimensions Raf provided but I wont be switching to wool until concrete proof comes to light that it is in fact a wool fabric. Wool is very expensive and while the Khaki color may not be difficult to find the strip color will be it's just not a style current color. Switching to wool will also make these capes much more costly. Wool suiting is$20-$25 per yard.

I can't wait to see the end result. I think too the wool is not THE material used for the cape, but I might be wrong.

Yes wool suiting is expensive, but it would look nice. I folded the fabric at an end a couple times and got the impression that it too was a bit thick. I plan to try cotton and see if I can lightly spray paint on a stripe

The capes I make don't have any stitches at the seam since I use a serger machine. There isn't a commercially available dye that I've found for the stripe. Tests with dye to try and get a crisp line have always had extreme bleeding ad well. I did a circuit of stores today and there is wool suiting thin enough but no colors other than black or striking patterns. I will have a new cape to show tonight