Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Homemade Superhero

It all started with "Superhero Princess Week" in pre-school. My daughter isn't a big princess fan, but I dutifully offered to make her a princess dress this past weekend. You should have seen her face - it was as if I had asked her if she wanted to eat an entire plate of creamed spinach! There was no way she was going to wear a princess dress to school. "Would you like a superhero costume instead?"Of course her answer to that one was "Yes!" So I quickly pawed through my fabric stash, and after hearing several choices she decided she wanted to be ...

faster than a running cheetah, able to leap into the canopy in a single bound - she wanted to be Jaguar Girl! A perfect fit for her, since these have become one of her favorites this winter.

I found several tutorials on line for making capes out of thrifted skirts, but hitting a thrift shop wasn't an option, so I had to come up with plan B. To draft my pattern, I started with a bib that I knew would fit around her neck. After measuring the length from her shoulders to her knees, I laid the bib over a large piece of white paper, measured down the appropriate distance, and roughed out my design. As for how wide to make the cape, I completely winged it. (My french curve was quite helpful for creating the curves at the bottom. I think I picked mine up at a thrift store for a buck or two, but I've found that it's quite handy to have.)

Here's the bib and my pattern. The bib is fairly large - designed to cover a messy toddler.



Here is my final pattern:


My daughter is quite tall for four and a half, so this size would probably need to be shortened if your child was younger or on the short side. (It also fits her six year-old brother.) One change I made to the pattern you see above is at the top. You've got to cut through the fold there to get the two little flaps that overlap to close the cape under the chin. I also clipped the square corners into more of a curve because I thought it would be more comfortable.

I cut one cape from my jaguar fabric and one from plain black to serve as a lining. Next I appliqued the J and the circle to the jaguar piece using fusible web. (I made the J pattern by printing out a capital J in a font I liked at size 450 and the circle is just a tracing of one of our dinner plates.)


To sew the cape I placed the fabric pieces right sides together and stitched around the outside, with a 3/8 inch seam allowance, making sure I left an opening to turn it. I turned it right side out, pressed it, edge stitched around the outside to give it a finished look, and finally I stitched on a velcro closure at the neck. Perhaps an hour and a half from start to finish.

The mask was quick and easy, too. I just traced the mask onto fusible web. Then I cut out the mask and a second mask, the same size, out of fabric-backed vinyl (left over from these boots.) I fused the two together, making sure the fabric side of the vinyl was going to touch my daughter's face. I used the vinyl because 1. I had it on hand and 2. I wanted something to give the mask a little stiffness. Heavy weight interfacing would probably achieve a similar effect. Next I stitched around the edge to make sure the two pieces didn't come apart, added the elastic strap, and that was it. I found the template for the mask here.

You should have seen her running down the hallway on her way to show her teacher. The teacher in me knows I should have stopped her and reminded her to "use her walking feet," but I decided the thrill of feeling her superhero cape flapping behind her was more important than walking - just this once.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

MUCH MUCH better than a princess dress! I love it.

Diane said...

What an adorable costume! You are certainly very "crafty" and I mean that in a wonderful creative way :-) I am all thumbs when it comes to crafting and sewing so I really admire your talents.
Happy Thursday to you and your family!!

Tim said...

Totally awesome! I think Wonder Woman and Batgirl are way better role models for empowering girls than Barbi and all that princess stuff.

Loralynn said...

Awesome costume!!! Very clever of you too. I don't think I could come up with something like that out of basically nothing...good job!

Brian Westphal said...

It looks fantastic. Who needs princesses anyway!

Carebear said...

Thank you so much for posting this, I just completed a cape for my nephew, he's gonna LOVE it!

Unknown said...

tanya.morris3.3@gmail.com: This is a WONDERFUL pattern and tutorial for my son's Superhero Birthday party at the end of the month! So glad I found this so that I can start making all the mask and capes we will need. You are the sweetest person to allow your users to not only see the pattern but also follow your steps! Now you have a NEW Subscriber in me because not everyone would let people see this for free and you my dear are one-of-a-kind! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!

Unknown said...

Thanks for sharing!Your measurements came in handy when i made some superhero capes as a gift for a social organisation which works with kids. I used to work there myself. I have my own little blog where i posted pictures of my capes with a link and credit to your site (but in german). You can find my post here: http://nur-noch.blogspot.de/2014/07/superheldenumhange.html#more
greetings from germany,
Ronja Lotte

Julie said...

So cool you live ON the island!! I went there as a child and have been wanting go back since! Cant wait to bring my kids there

Chocolate Inspector said...

Thank you for this pattern!! I made 4 capes (out of 4 yards) and they all turned out so cute, and it was really easy once I made a pattern (on butcher paper). I tried the first cape without it using the fold and I ended up having to piece the lining. SO, my tip for others is that I was able to use 1 yard of fabric using the above measurements. I cut out a pattern and then laid it flat on the fabric and it was the perfect use of the yard. I hope this helps! Thank you again for the great pattern!

Linda Feltes said...

As for Princesses, The Paper Bag Princess is a wonderful child's book. And Lady Di did amazing work in the world. That said, we need our jaguar heroes! I look forward to making this child's cape for the daughter of a mom who will be sporting a cape I make. See etsy:bicape if you're interested. Thanks for the pattern!

Anonymous said...

How can I print pattern

Liz said...

You can right click on the picture and save it to print for reference, but you can't print a full size one. Sorry...

Liz said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Hi just made 10 of this style of cape for the grandkids and a few for their friends very easy to make once i made a paper pattern