The Rogue Trader Cape - complete!

All of my normal crafting was put on hold this past two weeks because I had the looming deadline to get my husband's Rogue Trader Warhammer 40k cape finished before the final LARP game ever for this campaign. If it wasn't finished in time, it would never have been worn for its intended purpose... so the pressure was on!

I finished the embroidery quickly enough, although I decided to leave off the motto. The letters would have been too fiddly and I'm not sure it would have been completed in time.

The embroidery almost completed. 

It looks ok without the motto. 

The monocle was an panicky substitute - I'd hoped to be able to buy a gold coloured wire circle in a 2-dollar shop jewellery findings display, but could only find what I was looking for in silver. Eventually I used a gold finding I had lying around that was designed to be eyelet edging. The chain of the monocle is very fine crochet.

A close up of the skull's monocle. 

My husband and I went shopping to find a fabric for the lining. I was leaning towards pale gold satiny fabrics, but he went for a really metallic gold polyester stretch fabric. In the store I was thinking 'this is so gaudy and horrible' but in truth it was a much better match and fit in better with the intent of the cape and the overall costume. Rogue Trader crews are not known for their restraint.  You can see the lining most in the collar.

The collar under construction. 

I borrowed some millinery wire from my sister to go around the top and at intervals in the collar.
The front is decorated with some gold braid and some cheap skull earrings that another member of the crew found.

The skulls are earrings - $3! They give just the right finishing touch. 

I had hoped to get some better pictures of the cape in its entirety, but I decided I couldn't wait for the rain to finish and the light to improve.

The back of the cape. 

The front of the cape as a whole, showing the collar lining still,
and hints of the rest of the lining. 

I'm glad he got to wear it at least once. According to my spies at the event, the cape gathered a lot of comments, so I'm very happy.
You can read about the earlier stages of the cape and its embroidery here.