It’s a Kid! In a T-shirt! No! It’s a Super Hero! In a Cape!

Does this look familiar? This is a tutorial I did for Go To Sew and I’m bringing it home today!

Every time we go to the Gap outlet my son begs for one of those t-shirts with the capes Velcro-ed to the back. And it’s not just the Gap, they have them other places too. It doesn’t matter where he sees them, but he BEGS for one wherever we are. And I always same the same thing, ‘I can make that for a lot less than 30 bucks!’ We’re kinda like a broken record. Please, I can make that, Please, I can make that, Please… Get the idea?

So I finally sat down and made him one and he wore it all over town!

OK, this is super simple and can be done with old t-shirts you have around the house! My son decided he wanted Bat Man with a black t-shirt and yellow symbol and blue cape. Honestly, I didn’t know Bat Man’s cape was actually blue. Yes, my then 4 four-year old son convinced me that he knew what he was talking about. I think he loved saying, ‘See, I told you so!’ when we googled images of Bat Man online!

This tutorial is a two part-er. First we did a freezer paper stencil and then we made the cape.

Materials:

A blank t-shirt, color corresponding to your super hero of choice.

Fabric for the cape. About a 1/2 yard, or another adult t-shirt.

Freezer Paper

Your Super Hero Icon

Fabric Paint

Spongy Paint brush

Xacto Knife

Paper for making a pattern.

Velcro

Part 1: The Freezer Paper Stencil. I’m going to go over this quick, since it’s easy and I’ve already done a tutorials here…

Step 1: Cut your image out of the freezer paper.

Step 2: Iron it on the shirt with the shiny side down (touching the t-shirt)

Step 3: Paint! Mine took a few (or more) coats of paint.

Step 4: Remove the freezer paper!

Part 2: Make the cape!

Step 1: Make the pattern. Trace the neck and shoulders. The cape will sit up along the neck of the shirt, so we want this shape along the top. Then you decide the length and width! The t-shirts I ‘knocked off’ keep the cape the same length as the t-shirt. We decided to make ours about 3 inches longer. And about 5 inches wider than the back of the shirt.  After a few patterns, I ended up going straight from the shoulder to the edge of the shirt. As in no curves!

Step 2: Cut the cape.

Step 3: Hem each side of the cape.

Step 4: Cut your Velcro. I just happened to have color coordinated Velcro! How cool is that??? You don’t need it, but they do have all sorts of colored Velcro out there! Can you tell how excited I was when I found the blue? I already had the black. Ok, OK, OK! Back to the superheroes! Cut your Velcro in 1 1/2″ pieces. Position the Velcro and sew it on both the t-shirt and the cape.

Step 5: Turn your kid into a Super Hero! Or you, if it’s for you!

So remember how I said I knew I could do it for less than 30 bucks? Well, the t-shirt was 4, the paint was 1 and the blue Velcro was 1 and I had everything else on hand. So it ended up being 6 bucks! Oh, yeah!

Which Super Hero would you be??

 

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Follow all the Super Hero’s to Go To Sew!

Today’s my day at Go To Sew!

Be sure to click on over to learn how I (finally, as my son would say) made him the super hero shirt and cape that ‘he’s always wanted.’

It’s pretty Super Duper! hehehe… get it? Super Hero… Super Duper… Ha! I crack myself up!

 

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It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, No It’s Super E!!!

I think I’ve mentioned this before, but this year I’m trying to make all the gifts I give…  Ok, so it hasn’t happened completely, but I’m trying. And I know once the birthday and Christmas come around for my little guy there will be store bought gifts… Oh, we’re also going through potty training and gifts are our ploy. I’m NOT making a gift for each time he goes potty on the potty. Now if I had been thinking ahead I could have even got this done, but…. Ha! As I write this I realized how it could have been done, but I digress from the subject at hand…

Sooooo… The other day was our precious little neighbor’s birthday. I wanted to make her something, but wasn’t sure what. Then it hit me… Felt food! She loves her kitchen and her cash register.. . Then her Momma had three great words about felt food. Dog Hair Collector. Since we have been without animals since the summer before my son was born, I hadn’t thought of that little detail.

Back to the drawing board…  She also loves dress up… Ahhhh…  A cape! I was tempted to make another t-shirt cape like I made Max, inspired by The Southern Institute‘s tutorial, but since this is a present I decided on something a bit more finished.

I started with the t-shirt cape pattern (hint hint… more t-shirt fun to come this week!) from the one I made for Max. Cut out some super hero emblem shapes and the letter E, all of which I baked with Heat ‘n Bond Lite (for sewing). Sewed the pieces together, added some Velcro and wahlah!

But just a cape? No! We needed a crown (What Super Woman goes out without her crown??) and a wristband!

For the crown I included a layer of super stiff interfacing to help it keep its shape for all sorts of crime fighting adventures. I might just need one of these myself to wear around the house….

And of course, no present is complete without a matching gift bag!

But, alas, the super hero ensemble did not trump the sparkly fairy wings…. Maybe it was just that there was no crime solving to be had on birthday day. Just a peaceful fairy day. Crime solving super hero will come again in need to solve the woes of the world… It’s Super E to the rescue!

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Super M!

My son wants his own island playmat. And he’s been after me everyday asking about his playmat….

Yesterday was a rough day. I needed to make something (for my own sanity) and I need to make my son something to occupy him while the play mat is getting made.

And wha-la it’s Super M!

The other day I saw this tutorial for a cape from Southern Institute for Domestic Arts and Crafts and loved it! I added it to my to do list right away. I must have been so excited that I added it twice….

It was amazingly simple. It took all of about 30 minutes. And if i hadn’t had to keep running upstairs, it might have been even quicker!

I started with a t-shirt from Dad’s ‘to Goodwill’ bag and a half hour later had a cape.

     

A little no sew velcro and a little no sew heat n’bond for the applique = no sewing machine required!

I love how the star and the M turned out! He wasn’t quite as excited. I asked if he wanted to go outside and fly like the other superheros and he said, ‘No, I can’t fly. I don’t have wings.’

And back to the play mat…. I got the backing fabric last night and the sand fabric. I have run out of pieces from my recycled stash for the sand. I still have water fabric from the others I had made. He loves it. We had to take the fabric into the bed for our before bed book reading…. Here’s a peek… Now I want more so I can cut the bubbles out and make bubble pillows….

 

What projects are your kids waiting on????