DIY: How to make a superhero cape tutorial

This is my first Pinterest project.  I decided to make a superhero cape for my 2 year old son.  Since he is really into cats I decided to make it a cat theme.  Just a note I still consider myself a beginner sewer but bear with me!

Supplies: 

1 yard of solid color fabric

1 yard of print fabric

optional - fat quarter

black thread

white thread

pins

scissors

Iron out both pieces of fabric and then fold in half.

The neckline: 
Then take the edge opposite the fold and fold it  until there are about 5 inches on the top

Cut  off the folded edge as seen below.  You can do this free handed.
Why am I using a piece of plywood to cut my fabric?  A certain someone (who shall not be named) thought I would ruin the cutting mat  by getting little pieces of fabric stuck in the mat while I cut the fabric.  The plywood got the job done.

I needed a round edge for the neckline so I grabbed my extra large mixing bowl from Ikea which worked perfectly. This allowed me to draw and cut a slight curve line from the cut edge to the folded piece.

Cape ties
  Take the triangular scraps that you cut off in the first step and make a total of 4 straps that are 16 inches long by about 2 1/2 inches wide.  Take one of the printed pieces and one of the solid pieces and put together inside out.  Pin.

Sew along both long sides and one of the short sides.  I cut the extra fabric along the corners so it was easier to turn inside out. When finished turn both ties right side out.

Assembly:
  Now place the right side of each piece of fabric toward each other.  Sandwich the cape tie between these two pieces leaving about a half an inch hanging out.  

Now the fun part!  Sew the cape together.  I started with a basic straight stitch but I didn't think it was going to be strong enough so I went through and did a zig zag stitch.  I left about 5 inches along the top open so I could put the cape right side out. Don't forget to trim the edges!

Cape decor: 
I didn't include this in the instructions because I would do it differently the next time I make one. But for this one I wanted an S emblem so I printed out a very large S in Arial font about size 500.  I very carefully traced the S onto a piece of fabric and cut.  It didn't have to be perfect since I was going to attach the S with a zig zag stitch.    For the cat I searched for a cat silhouette via the web and enlarged it.  For the circles I got out my trusty Ikea bowls and traced.


If I were to do it again I would definitely skip the sewing and do some sort of iron on.  

Special thanks to these blogs for inspiration and helping to get me started
http://thepleatedpoppy.com/2008/01/cape-tutorial/
http://www.georgialeigh.com/?p=57
http://www.allfortheboys.com/home/2012/1/2/diy-cape-christie-at-storehouse-crafts.html/
http://www.comeonilene.com/2011/06/20/reversible-superhero-cape/

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