How to Make A Superhero Cape: A Tutorial

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Grace loves the Wonder Pets, and she wants to be just like them. She's not too big and not too tough, but with the help of her Momma and Daddy, she can accomplish almost anything.

She's my little superhero - Super Grace!

Every superhero needs a cape, so I decided to make one for her. I found a tutorial at The Pleated Poppy, and I used to to figure out the whole cape process.

The cape was slightly more successful than the tutu, which means that she'll allow it to be put onto her body and even leave it on for more than five seconds.

How to Make a Superhero Cape

Materials

• 2 pieces of fabric - I used two large pieces of 45" fabric, and each one was 28" long. They were cut from much larger sections of fabric. I allowed Grace to pick two pieces from my rather large fabric stash.
• Matching thread
• A ruler

Instructions

1. Fold the fabric in half so that the selvage matches. Repeat with the second piece of fabric. Lie one on top of the other. (My purple fabric is silky and slippery, so it was a real pain to work with. I tried to keep it on top so that it wouldn't make the other fabric slide around.)
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2. Explain what you're doing to child who will someday wear finished cape. Show her the fabrics again, and tickle her when she lays down on them.
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3. Once said child vacates your working area, measure 4"-5" from the fold along the top edge and 10"-12" from the bottom along the selvage edge. Draw a line between these two marks and cut along it.  I measured and cut the two pieces of fabric separately, but you can cut them both if you're brave.
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4. Working on the top of the cape, measure down three inches along the fold. Draw an arc from this point to the marker you made in step 3 above. Cut along this arc, as below.
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5. In the photo below, the top of the cape is at the bottom left of the photo, and the bottom of the cape is at the top right. If you're using a patterned fabric with a directional print, make sure the print is going the right direction. My cape would have looked silly if Pooh and his friends were all upside down.
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6. I had a little trouble with the next part. In her instructions, Lindsey doesn't measure. She eyeballed everything and cut. I'm not comfortable with that. I need to measure and check and double check to make sure my project turns out as I planned. For the next part, you have to draw the bottom edge of the cape. To do that, you draw another arc, this time, from the fold at the bottom to the corner on the selvage edge. It sounds easy enough, but I drew it five separate times before I finally cut it out. And then I didn't like it, so I trimmed a bit more off the curved edge. I still wasn't thrilled with the curve, but I left it alone. I'm glad I did because the finished cape is really cute.
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7. In step 3, you cut a large triangle of fabric that you can use to make straps. The straps should be at least 2.5" x 20". My triangle wasn't big enough for the straps, so I cut a 2.5" wide strip from the entire 45" width of my two large pieces of fabric, and then I cut it in half so that I had two strips, each 22.5" long.
   You could even use a complementary fabric if you don't have enough left over.
8. Match up one strip of each fabric and pin them with the right sides together. Sew along the two long sides and one of the short sides.
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9. Lindsey left her straps square. I thought pointed straps would look nicer, so I sewed a triangle into each one. I liked the little flowers at the end, so I drew a triangle around the flower and sewed along that line.  I sewed over each seam to make it more stable, and then I trimmed the corners off so it would be less bulky when I turned the straps inside out.
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10. I turned the straps right side out using a hair stick, poking my triangle point out with the end of it.
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11. I should have ironed the straps to make them flat, but I didn't. I just pressed them out with my finger and left them a little puffy.
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12. Next, I laid the patterned side of the cape down on the floor with the right side facing up. I set the straps on top, matching the patterned straps against the patterned side of the cape. Pin the straps to the cape, about a half inch from the cape's neckline.
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13. Last, I set the purple side of the cape on top with the right side facing down. I ended up flipping the whole thing over because the purple fabric was too hard to work with, but you don't have to flip it over. That would be silly.
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    Ignore the fact that I flipped it over.

14. Pin the layers together the whole way around.
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15. I was so excited to finish the cape that I stopped taking pictures. After pinning, sew around the cape. I used a ½" seam allowance, and I left a hole for turning the cape on the side, near the bottom. Because the purple fabric was so silky, I had to put a pleat in the center back. I was disappointed, but I thought it was better than gathering the entire edge.
16. Turn the cape right side out. Turn the edge under and sew the hole shut. I like the stability that top stitching gives garments, so I sewed the whole way around the cape about ⅛" from the edge.
17. Make sure you have all of the pins out, and tie the cape around somebody's neck. They'll love it!