Superhero Cape

About four or five years ago, when my boys were smaller and before I knew how to sew, I saw some superhero capes that looked handmade in a local independent toy store (now, sadly, closed). The owner confirmed that a local woman made them, and I asked if she thought she’d be interested in making a couple custom capes, in my boys’ favorite colors, with the first letter of their names on the back instead of a bat or a superman symbol. I like the idea, see, of an open-ended cape, so a kid doesn’t feel he has to be superman or batman or whoever. The sewist—who I never met, or found out her name—agreed, and I bought my boys some capes. They are still in the dress-up box, and my 7yo still wears his regularly.

Now, though, I can sew. Good thing, too, since it’s no longer an option to buy one at the toy store. I thought my husband’s three-year-old nephew might like a personalized superhero cape for Christmas, so I asked my sister-in-law his favorite color and got to work, using a yard of red Kona cotton (although it didn’t take nearly all of it) and a dark blue fat quarter. I know there are many cape tutorials and patterns out there, both free and for sale, but I figured I could work backwards from the ones in the dress-up basket. It’s a simple construction, with a sewn-on collar band held closed with Velcro. While Velcro isn’t my favorite item to work with, and I hate how it snags on everything, it’s probably the safest choice for this age group. (Although I admit: I tie capes onto my own three-year-old when she asks me to.) I ended up sewing the Velcro on by hand, because I thought that would give me the greatest control over the slippery little suckers, and I could check both sides of the collar band as I worked.

Grey day, everything is grey, and I needed to use the flash.

All in all, this was relatively simple, yet I think it’s so cute, and it was interesting enough that I didn’t feel like I was just churning out product at the sewing machine (like I feel when I’m sewing jammie pants, actually). My 7yo asked if we were giving this in person, since, he said, "I like to see people open their gifts and I bet he will love it and put it on right away and we can all be super heroes together." My daughter has requested one of her own in blue; perhaps she’s tired of wearing her oldest brother’s initial on her back? I told her that would probably have to wait until after Christmas, though.

(I would like to thank my wonderful husband, who gifted me with the time to sew this cape...)