This, however, involved making capes for four little girls, so it had to be cheap and super quick to make. Voila! Super easy super cape to the rescue!
Sorry again -- I'm getting the hang of this craft blogging thingy, and I didn't take any before/along-the-way pics, although this was so super easy, you probably won't need them!
I got some of the cheapest cotton fabric at my favorite fabric store, cut along the fold (it was 45 inches total, making each cape 22.5 inches wide), and then cut it lengthwise 24 inches. *I bought two yards of fabric, and it made six capes.* I also bought a couple of packages of dark purple double-fold bias tape.
I hemmed the cape about an inch on three sides (fold under 1/2 inch, then fold under again). On the top side, I used my serger to gather stitch the top (if you're using your sewing machine, just set it to a basting/long stitch, then gently pull on the threads and bunch the material to gather it).
I cut about 26 to 30 inches of bias tape and laid it along the top (you'll open it up and place the material inside, with half on top and half beneath). Make sure to line up the center of your tape with the center of the cape. Wow, sounds like one of those phrases that rhymes to help you remember it...
Just pin it in place and stitch it all the way from end to end, making sure to tuck under your short ends on the bias tape to get a nice finish.
And see how nice that worked out? The bias tape covers the top and serves as a tie and a nice little pop of color, and the gathers help the cape to lay just right over the shoulders. Plus it takes like 5 minutes and cost me around $2 a cape. Nice...
Just a little note: I had my serger on a four-thread stitch, so it made my gathering stitch kind of wide at the top, and one piece of bias tape wasn't wide enough to cover my threads. You can buy wider bias tape, but since I was in the middle of my project when I discovered this, this is what I did: I cut two pieces of bias tape, then opened them up and laid them with right sides together. I stitched along the top folds, doubling the width of my tape. Then attached it just like you normally do with bias tape (put your material inside and let the tape fold around the edge). Yes, I love this stuff -- it looks so nice and it's so easy to use.
Fly away, little E! My cute little model here is almost two years old, if that helps you get an idea of what the length looks like. Most of my preschool girls are 4 years old, and this length hit them right about the knees. It's probably a little long on E, but she's only growing and it doesn't seem to get in the way of any superhero fun...
A little bonus: If you're feeling ambitious and want to make this cape even more special, you can add a letter or a design very easily! For the Super Why version of my son's cape, I printed out an question mark in 120 point font and used it as a pattern to cut one out of felt. Just pin it on and stitch around the edges. Super!
So awesome!
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