I love these capes. They are soooo simple to make and at our house are played with on a daily basis. So, if you're in need for a last minute halloween costume, you could whip one of these up and call your little being a superhero!
To make: I used broadcloth, and cut it into a triangle with the top part flat - or if you want to geometrically proper, a trapazoid:
Top: 18 inches
Length: 27 inches
Bottom: 40 inches
To make one like this blue one with a red, one inch border, cut out your fabric according to the measurements above:
Use a double fold bias for all of the sides of the cape. You could use the same color as the cape or a different one, whichever suites your fancy. To make your own bias tape check out this tutorial.
For the neck straps add 5 inches on both sides of the top bias. I've seen people add velcro to their capes and think that's a wonderful idea, but haven't gotten around do doing that. I plan on making a couple of these for Christmas for various nieces and nephews, so will try the velcro for those. I'm guessing I wouldn't have to have such long straps up top if I do add velcro.
The red one was BIG for Elena, who is a smallish 2 year old, so I decided to hem it two inches on the bottom and about 1.5 inches on the sides. At first I thought I would cut it and serge it, but this just looked nicer:
I added some extra pieces of bias tape to the neck piece for ties around the neck.
For the patch on the back (really just an upside down triangle with the corners cut off): Grab yourself some felt (29 cents for each 8x12 sheet at Michaels or your local fabric shop) and you could either print out letters using a font that you like in 40 point or larger, or just wing it and trace onto felt. Cut out and glue on upside down triangle:
I used tacky glue for fabric, approximately $2.50 at your local craft store:
AND
After I glued the letters to the patch part I did a straight stitch around the edges of the letter. I then glued the patch to the back of the cape and did a zigzag stitch around that.
Place on superheros! Let them run!
When these are on, the conversation goes something like this:
F: "Elena, say 'you can't fly'"
E: "You can't fly Ankie D (for Frankie D)"
F: "Yes I can!" Then in a softer voice, "Now say, 'prove it!'"
E: "Prove it!"
Then they both jump, Frankie off of some furniture piece, and Elena on the floor as they both fall into laughter....
Hope your little ones enjoy these as much as mine do!
