Superhero Capes

For my second sewing project, I decided to tackle Superhero capes for my kids. The boys like to play "NBA Dunk Contest" with the small hoop in their room, so they thought they could use some capes as props for that. Both boys decided they wanted to be Captain America. My daughter's personality doesn't really fit any superhero, so I made her a cape with her own R (for Rachel) logo. (She is a superhero of her own category!)

To start, I found a free pattern for the Captain America logo on Pinterest: http://www.vanillajoy.com/free-superhero-cape-pattern.html

Using white cotton fabric, I cut out the star. 

The red circles have to be cut on a double fold. This is what that will look like. The large white circle pattern is also on a double fold. 

I used satin fabric for the cape. I got better at working with satin by the time I got to Rachel's cape. The ends fray really easily, so you will want to turn over each of the ends a a couple of times and sew it down so the rough end is not exposed. 

For the cape part, I cut a piece of the fabric about 18 inches by 24 inches. Matt's was a little bit longer, but he is close to 5 feet tall.

To make the top of the cape have the "gathered look", I turned about an inch of fabric down and stitched it. The ends will be open. I slid a piece of ribbon through the newly created hole. When it got to the other end of the hole, I stitched it into place. I went back and forth about 4 times so it didn't come loose.  

Then push the fabric over until it is as wide as you need it to fit across your child's back. Cut the ribbon and stitch this end of the ribbon in place. 

To make sure the ends don't fray, you will want to stitch a hem all the way down the sides of the cape and the bottom of the cape. 

Because my son doesn't like things around his neck, and I feel it is safer if they aren't putting things around their neck, I made these capes so they would fit around their arms. To do this, cut two pieces of elastic. (For my 5-year-old I cut 2 pieces about 6 inches long. The 2-year-old's elastic pieces were a little bit shorter. The 11-year-old's elastic was about 9 inches.) 

Sew the elastic about an inch down from the top and a 1/2 inch over. Then measure 4 inches down from that and sew the other end of the elastic. (Repeat on the other side.) 

For the logo, I found it easiest to sew both of the red circles on the white circle first. Then I cut out the center white part. (See the next picture)

Sew the circles on the cape. Then sew the star on top of the circles. 

The kids put their arms through the elastic and they are set to fly. 

For Rachel's, I just cut a black heart out of cotton fabric and an R out of the satin scraps.