Super Heros in the Making!

For quite some time now, Clayton has been fascinated with Capes. About a year ago, he started wearing an old dish towel with a chip-clip around the house, saying that he was a Super Hero. Gradually it advanced to the "cape" having a "spot" in his room and eventually on to wearing the dish towel/chip-clip out and about. It's been to the Post Office, the Library and the grocery store. He loves to Zoom around in it and it got me thinking, a real cape would be so much more fun! So... I started out on Google and eventually came across The Long Thread, a blog by a woman who is way more crafty than I could even aspire to be.

My search through her site brought me to the ultimate Superhero Cape for inexperienced sewers! Perfect! I was off to the fabric store to get my supplies the next day! The next step was to pick up the phone and call my mom to ask her to teach me how to use her sewing machine! In no time, she and my dad came to visit (a short 2 hour drive!) and she brought her machine with her. She had the Genius idea to use a piece of newspaper to fabricate a pattern based on the measurements in the instructions... I would have Never thought of this!

And... after a brief tutorial on the machine, she left me to it. I set out with the goal to make 2 capes, one for each of the boys, for Christmas gifts. Thinking it would take me forever, I started right after Thanksgiving. Being as they were intended as gifts, and I was not fluent with the Singer, I worked under the cover of darkness, until the early hours of the morning. Ironing... Pinning... Cutting... 

The first was Spider Man (of course) with red backing (of course)... For you know who!

Pinning... Sewing... Ironing... 

Ripping thread... Sewing... Ripping thread... Sewing... Ironing... 

This orange fabric had a very strange texture to it, much like a plastic table cloth, and I did most of my thread ripping here. Ugh...

and the second was Camo with orange backing for the littlest super hero. 

I almost Could. Not. Wait. until Christmas to give them to the boys! On a trip to the Library in early December, I realized that the cape had a power that I had not noticed before. Clayton met a little girl while we were waiting in line to check out... Her name was Skylar, she was 6 years old, she fixed his superhero cape (aka a dish towel and chip clip), he told her they could be best friends for always! :-) That's my little man!

And finally... the day came! Clayton did not take his off all day and I had to pry it from his shoulders at bed time! Cole preferred the towel & clip get-up, but is coming around to the cape, especially since he's noticed that it will "flow" when he runs!

So, why stop there??? I decided to make three more! 

More Ironing... Pinning... Snipping... Pinning... Ironing...  

Much Less thread ripping this time around... Thank goodness!

And a chance to fashion some Girl capes! Yea!

Batman with yellow backing for Justin... 

And Princesses with pink backing for Madison.

And finally... for Miss Emily, Fancy Nancy with purple backing! Happy 5th Birthday to Emily, Justin and Madison! Yea!!

These capes were very simple, while there are a few kinks I'd like to work out, the kids don't even notice and here's hoping that these little Super Heroes enjoy them as much as I enjoyed making them! Thank you to The Long Thread for posting such awesome step-by-step instructions!

And that newspaper pattern... well, it held up just fine! I think I'm gonna frame it and hang it on the wall!

Now... to return Grammy's sewing machine... or do I have just one more left... Hhmmm... ;-)