Superman Beginnings

My older son, Asher, has been a Superman fanatic since watching the original movie.  So guess what he wants to be this Halloween?  Superman OF COURSE :).  It's still a bit early to be making the whole costume, but I can't resist making him a cape in the meanwhile.



Here's a quick rundown of how I made the cape - sized for a 3.5 year old.

Materials:

• red fabric 19"x30".  I used a light weight fabric with a little shimmer that flows well.
• yellow felt - 7"x5"
• black embroidery floss
• red sewing thread - match the red fabric
• yellow sewing thread - match the yellow felt
• iron on fusing web 
• printed out Superman symbol - about 6" across.  I used my son's old Superman t-shirt with the logo on it.  They sell them at places like Target and Old Navy.
• parchment paper - or another thin paper that you could see the logo through
• Craft pen or thin sharpie
• Scissor
• Snap Button

1. Double fold and sew each edge of the red fabric with the red thread.  
2. Measure the diameter of your child's neck, add 2-3" for comfort.
3. Fold down - 'dog-ear' the 2 top corners of the cape.  This will keep the cape from always draping over the front - optional step.
4. Attach snap button to where you measured for the neck.  Double check to see if this is a comfortable width for your child.
   
   
5. Trace the Superman logo onto the parchment paper.
6. Cut out the logo around the logo and cut out the 'S'. This will be used as the stencil.
7. Put the stencil on top of the yellow felt, make sure the whole symbol fits on top.  
8. Use a craft pen or thin sharpie to trace around the outside of the logo and the 'S' shape right onto the yellow felt. Don't worry about the lines showing - I cut slightly inside the line around the logo and the 'S' line will be invisible once it's embroidered.
   
   Always enlist the help of the little ones :).
   
   
9. Cut out the logo ONLY around the edges - Make sure to cut just inside the line so that the marker will be cut off.  DO NOT cut the 'S' shape.
10. Using the stenciled on 'S' outline, embroider with the black embroidery floss using a chain stitch along the 'S'. Here's a closeup of the 'S' embroidered on.  See no more marker showing :).
    
    
11. Using the fuse web, fuse the logo onto the red fabric about 8" down the center of the cape.  It should hit just below the middle of the back once the cape is on.
12. Blanket stitch along the logo with the yellow thread once it's fused onto the cape.  This will ensure that the edges don't come loose and give it that extra nice look.  I use the fuse web just to make sure that the middle is on tightly. 
    A view of the front:
    
    
    
    A view of the back:
    
    
    
    
13. Now your little one is ready to enjoy this cape :).
 

What's the next step?  The rest of the Superman outfit.  In the meanwhile Asher enjoys wearing his cape EVERYWHERE.  Here's my Superman spotted at the park :).



Sorry I didn't have many pictures of the process.  I actually made logos earlier in the day with a similar process but realized later that I couldn't use it for the cape...could you see why???



Yep Superman's cape has an all yellow logo with black lines for the 'S'.  I guess I'll use that red/yellow logo for shirts or decal for other things - photo album cover?

I'm sharing this project HERE.