Little Red Riding Hood cloak

10-31 lrrh front 1

I made this silk-lined wool cape for my daughter's first birthday, which happens to fall on Halloween. I had purchased the wool way back in high school and used it for baby blankets. I had one long, narrow piece left over that sat in my fabric pile for years while I tried to find a use for it. The silk charmeuse came from scraps left over from making my wedding dress.

I dyed the fabric "fire red" with an acid dye from Dharma Trading. It technically didn't cost anything because it was left over from dyeing fold-over-elastic for cloth diapers. The cloak clasp ($3) came from Twin Roses Designs; it's the Art Nouveau clasp in antique silver. The basket ($0.75) came from a rummage sale and added the perfect finishing touch to the Little Red Riding Hood costume. I used a semi-circular cloak tutorial and modified it for a 12 month old. The cape was 40" in diameter (20" radius) and the neck hole was cut 4 1/2" in from the center (and could have been smaller).

Dyeing, cutting out, and sewing the cloak (with some help!)

The finished product