Jet’s superhero phase is in full swing now and he made it very clear to us before Christmas that he wanted needed a cape, make that two capes- a Batman cape AND a Superman cape.   This was very exciting for me: a boy project! 

I focused on Batman for Christmas and hoped to find some guidance and inspiration searching others’ blogs.  I didn’t find much out there that matched the vision in my head, so I decided to go with my vision: shiny, sleek material, navy and black, and scalloped (or inverted scallop?) at the hem, and a distinguished collar.   With a lot of luck it worked.  TA DA!    

This isn’t going to be much of a tutorial, but I did shoot some progress photos.  Please feel free to email me with questions. First, I cut my main fabric pieces. I folded each in half for symmetry, but otherwise just kinda went for it.

Next came the Batman logo applique. Somewhere in this process, I realized that I did not have any solid yellow fabric to use!  So, I snuck into my sleeping children’s bedroom and went dresser diving.   Found a mostly plain  tee-shirt that was the perfect yellow- go me!

I used steam-a-seam2 to fuse my applique pieces before securing with a zig-zag stitch.

With the applique finished, and the body of the cape sewn and turned, I had to attack the collar.  I did not have a plan for this.  It took two tries, and did I mention luck?  I was so pleased with the results, the buttons helped to dignify the look.  I do feel that Batman is the most dignified of superheros, don’t you?

Since I was on a roll, I used some scraps to applique a onesie for baby cousin Grant. Yay!

I was so excited to give this special gift to Jet that I could not wait for Christmas, and decided to present it on the Eve.  His reaction was perfection, bashful at first, but so proud when he put it on.  He was thrilled, and it is now a regular part of his wardrobe. 

Not long after I gifted Jet with his first cape, he casually mentioned, “But Mom, I wanted a Superman cape too”.   I reminded him that his birthday was right around the corner, be patient.  Last week, I threw it down again- and even had to destroy another yellow tee-shirt of Jet’s! 

Here’s a little trick (probably not legal) I’ve been using to sketch my applique designs:

And that Steam-A-Seam2 comes in handy again:

I was kind of lazy with this one, no lining, no buttons.  But my fabric choice was much more difficult to work with.  It has great flow, but was not as much fun to make.

The important thing was that the birthday boy LOVED it!

I’m off to bed faster than a speeding bullet.

– Caroline