Recently my two daughters were invited to a super hero party. I hadn't sewn anything for them for quite a while so decided it was time.. queue personalised, hooded superhero capes!
They aren't the perfect item of clothing for the Brisbane Summer, but I've no doubt they will be firm favourites in the cooler months.
I did consider creating my own cape pattern, but time, as usual, was scarce and Kwik Sew K3723 version B totally served the purpose. I used the Emma Louise premium cotton from the Sewing Gem store along with some floral cotton for the lining to jazz things up a bit. I cut out the pattern, sewed the centre back seam and pressed the seam open then applied the letters to the back outer fabric.
The personalisation bit was a great scrap-buster. I literally raided my bucket of off -cuts and found all my old floral fabrics. Here's how I created the personalised bit:
1. Print off the letters needed from the computer in the size and font you require
2. Cut out the letters (I've made a start in the photo above, but not quite finished!)
3. Flip the letters the wrong way round and draw round them on to Heat 'n Bond or something similar.
4. Iron the heat and bond letter shape (not cut out yet) on to the back of the fabric.
5. Cut out the letter
6. Pull off the backing paper on the heat 'n bond and position it where you would like it to go.
7. Iron letter to the main fabric.
8. Blanket stitched around edge of letter. On my machine this was length 2, width 2. Job done!
A couple of things to note about this pattern that I found with hindsight (wonderful thing that it is). The finishing techniques aren't as complete as some would like or expect. However being a fancy-dress garment it wasn't the end of the world.
However if I made this again, I would probably (time dependent):
-either understitch (as far a possible) the sides and bottom of the cape or top stitch all the way around the edge of the cape to make sure the lining doesn't flip to the front. (I did understitch the hood despite this not being in the instructions and I'm really glad I did).
- The pattern is drafted for 4years and older so It was fairly huge on my 3 year old (who is also on the shorter side). I took about 5cm off the bottom, but I should have also downsized the hood and shoulder area... hopefully she'll grow into it:)
- Only 6mm seam allowance is included in the pattern, which works well for the main part, however the hood needs to be gathered on to the cape. The 6mm was actually fine to do this, however it would have been easier to space my gathering stitches if I had at least a 1cm seam allowance.
Otherwise it was a great simple pattern, perfect for dressing up the kids.
