The background cloth is from a coat that came from the San Francisco Opera costume sale last week (the first in five years). Rumor has it that one of the divas wore it in the opera, Mary Magdelin, performed last season. It’s monumental–probably a foot too long and weighs a ton but I think it’s beautiful–the cut and the fabrics. Notice the gathers on the sleeves–a great idea to shorten them without cutting anything. I have a gorgeous Afghan coat with very long sleeves. I’m going to try this on it. I see there is a gros grain ribbon (1″ wide”) inside the sleeve that is hand stitched to the cloth to gather it up. The ribbon adds the support needed.