A scapular is a garment of monastic origins, resembling a long back-and-front apron with a hole in the middle to wear over the head. It minimizes drafts through the open front of a gown; it can create a splash of color; or it can protect a robe (usually white) underneath from getting dirty.
They’re surprisingly difficult to make, really. My initial plan was to make a front and a back, and simply sew the shoulders together and then hem the resulting piece. But somehow in the middle of the process, I forgot what I’d designed. I wound up sewing the edges together, and had to undo all of that stitching. I then made a lining, and sewed the lining to the facing right-sides-together, and turned the garment before ironing it. Except, that first I sewed the neckline together, and that turned out to be a mistake — because how does one turn the garment at that point? Through the shoulder line? Not really possible.
So I had to undo the neckline, and do it again. I think the new neck is not really as well done, or as carefully or beautifully done as I’d like. It’s also the case that the front and the back are not really the same size, despite expectations and planning and patterning. Why that is, I’m not really sure. Something to work on. The design calls for a yellow band or trim all the way around the scapular, front and back, to make it into a tabard for one of the officers of a lodge organization. Already I’m not very satisfied with the design for that purpose, though. So I’m going to have to put some more time into the design, and think about what it really has to look like or show as.
In the meantime, though, this thing is really not very useful without its mates. So I’m probably committed to making the other three or four or five, and seeing what comes from that. Which I think I’ll do — if I have four or five (or six?) of them, in the traditional elemental colors (white, black, yellow, blue, red, green), I’ll be much more at ease with this pattern, and have a better sense of whether this is the right pattern for the intended purpose, or not.
