Superhero Capes!

As you may know, I am nannying for my three favorite boys in the world again this summer. The oldest has a birthday coming up in a little over a week, and the twins had a birthday the week before I started working with them. I figured since I missed the twins' birthday, and it is so close to their older brother's, it would be okay for me to get all three of them something and just give them each a gift on the upcoming birthday.

The boys are (just turned) 4, and (about to turn) 6. All day long they play make believe games. They are fixated on pretending to have some sort of super powers. For example, Q can "move as fast as a rocket!" and T can "never be hurt or killed". I got it in my head that I should make all three of them superhero capes for their birthdays. I looked around online and found some cute ones with some basic instructions and decided to get to work. I am INCREDIBLY amazed this turned out as well as it did given that I had no pattern or any real measurements of any kind to work with, only pictures for ideas.

I'll post pictures of all three when they are done, but for now I'll post about the one I finished the other day (disclaimer: the pictures don't all match the finished cape. I sort of forgot to take pictures as I was going so some pictures go to one cape, some to another):

How to Make a Superhero Cape!

1. fold fabric in half selvage to selvage. Use fabric chalk to freehand the shape of the cape like this, and cut out:

Mine is about 11 inches wide, and 28 inches tall.

Here is what your cape looks like unfolded (you'll need two of these for each cape):

If you're making more than one cape, I'd suggest working on all three at each step.

2. On your background color of felt, draw the shape you want for the superhero emblem. I just freehanded mine using a ruler.

3. Using double sided fusible interfacing, trace the background shape, then draw the superhero emblem inside it (make sure to draw it backwards if need be because it will be mirrored when you iron it on to the fabric). Iron this on to the second color of felt, cut out, remove interfacing, and iron on to the background color.

4. Lay the emblem on one piece of the cape and center it where you want it. Iron it on using the fusible interfacing. Using the zig zag stitch on your sewing machine (and a contrasting color thread), stitch around all the edges on the emblem to add some detail while securing it to the cape fabric.

5. Place both pieces of cape fabric right sides together. Stitch all the way around but leave about 6 inches open to pull the fabric through. Pull fabric through to the right side and iron. Then, using the contrasting thread, stitch around the edge using a 1/4 seam. Sew velcro on to the neck pieces to make it easy for kids to get on and off themselves.

6. Be amazed that you actually made something that looks like a cape not having any real directions, measurements, or pattern!

I'm finishing up the last of the three capes this weekend and giving them to the boys on Tuesday. I'll take some pictures of them wearing them and post them later. :) Such a fun, simple project. The total cost came out to be $8 per cape. What a great inexpensive gift! Anyone have a little boy who needs a cape?!?