Superhero Capes

I made Superhero Capes for the kiddos this weekend. This was a low cost project that took the better part of an afternoon for the first one and then only an hour or so with the second one since I had it all figured out. To make one cape I bought Heat & Bond $3.58, Thread that matched the accent color $2.85, Satin - 2 yards on sale for $2.50 a yard, and velcro $1.98 which apparently I already had. If I had it to do over I would use snaps because the velcro snags the satin. Obviously, the second cape was cheaper, only costing me the cloth and thread. I was going to use two colors of thread per cape, but I forgot to re-thread before I started sewing the cape together, so I will be returning the second spool. Also, I only used 1/2 to 3/4 yard of the fabric, so I could have purchased about half as much.

It looks like I'm getting ready for Mardi Gras

I started by printing out a symbol in the size I wanted and cutting it out using scissors and an exacto knife. It took me a couple hours of brainstorming to come up with a decent design for the "J" in Juliet since it tends to look off center. Once that was figured out it was smooth sailing.

The "S" is for Sebastian, not Superman

I cut out a piece of Heat & Bond (large enough to cover the symbol) and followed the Heat & Bond instructions, ironing it to the back side of a swatch of the accent fabric. Then I had to be very careful to make sure I turned my symbol the correct direction before tracing it to the paper side of the Heat & Bond. I've made the mistake before of not reversing the design when tracing it to the applique fabric and almost ending up with everything backwards.

Next I put the two cape fabrics shiny side together and folded them in half. I pinned my pattern to them and cut it out (leaving room for the seam). The pattern I made had a 4 inch diameter hole for the neck and is about 20 inches from neck to bottom, with 8 inches for the neck ties.

I cut the symbol out of the accent fabric, pealed off the paper backing and centered it on the back of the cape and ironed it for 2 seconds to bond it. 

Next was the applique. I have a basic sewing machine. It doesn't do anything fancy like embroidery. But with the correct settings I can do a decent applique job. I have 3 zig-zag stitch settings. I used the medium one and set my stitch spacing to "button hole." Then I tested it out on a scrap until I was happy with it. Honestly, the satin was probably not the best fabric choice for applique, since it is so delicate, but it looked pretty good and it's not like I'm selling these.

Once I finished with the applique, I pinned the shiny sides of the cape together again and sewed around the edges, leaving a hole to turn it right side out. Then I turned it right side out, hand stitched the hole closed and sewed velcro on to the neck ties.