I'm thinking about trying to make my own version of a gatewood cape. But the two things I can't figure out how to tackle are:
1)The arm slits. They appear to be in the seam line, so how do you transition from the seam (I'm assuming a felled seam) above and below the slit to the opening for the slit?
2) The attachment of the harness at the neck hole?

If anyone has tried this and has explanations or pics I would appreciate it. I've been studying the review article and every other pic I can find, but still can't figure out how to solve these questions.

BTW, this is my first MYOG project, I want to do a pack too, but thought I'd start with a cape.

> how do you transition from the seam (I'm assuming a felled seam) above and
> below the slit to the opening for the slit?

That IS the tricky bit. You have to cut the selvedge at the ends of the slit, and this creates a weak spot. There are several ways to reinforce the junction: experiment with paper and scraps of fabric. But reinforce the transition you must.

Cheers

Roger, thanks for the insight. I was thinking I need to stay away from a cut there, b/c as the tension is applied along that seam, its going to tend to want to pull that cut apart. What do you think about just stopping the stitching of the felled seam above and below the slit, and then allowing the two pieces of material to just fold apart and have a gap? It wouldn't be so pretty where it folds out of the seam, but it would maintain the tensile strength of the seam line I think.

That may not make any sense with my wording, but I don't know how else to describe it.

Hi Ryan

What you suggest will work, but the slit won't look that pretty, and will need to have a few inches extra length to work. But, it will work.

Cheers

Ryan,

Making Arm Slits

The arm slits are pretty easy. A half inch cut is made in the edge of the material at the start and stop of the slit. The material is folded over and sewn down.

The arm slit cover flap is placed over the gap sewn at each end and bar tacked. The back edge of the flap fills in for the missing material in the seam. This flap will absorb the tension running along the seam and eliminate any problem with the two cuts wanting to rip out.

The seam connecting the front and rear panels are a butt seam not a felled seam. It is also backed by binding tape. The extra material of the binding tape acts like a built in guyline and reduces a lot of stress on the canopy material.

The Harness Attachment

The harness is attached by 5 - 3/8" buckles (not available in the US). However I've successfully used plastic gator clips in the past. They are evenly spaced around the neck hole. Starting and ending at the binding that joins the front and back panels. The 6th attachment, at the front of the cape, runs from the harness all the way to the ground.

Hope this helps,
Ron

Wow, thanks for the help Ron! I appreciate you giving away your secrets. The more I look at the design of it, the more complex I realize some of this sewing and joinery is, the more I appreciate how much thought has gone into it.

I wanted to make one, mostly for fun, b/c I realize I won't save much money at all trying to make it myself, but I also hoped to make it just a little longer to accomodate my 6'2" height. However, it looks like the 60" width of the roll becomes the limiting factor, unless I want to do more seams, which of course adds some complexity and weight.