SuperHero Capes

written by Julia Fegley
We all desire superhero powers, putting on a cape, and doing great things for the world.  What super power would you like to possess?  Follow this tutorial and use your power of imagination to help fight cancer.  Plus, your child can enter our cape design contest for  and a chance to be in Junior Design Fashion Show Peoria on May 31, 2019.
Here is the link to the registration form for PAME’s design contest:

cape_registration_form.pdf
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Materials
Capes:

1. You can sew capes from scratch using fabric and sewing machines for the most points in the design contest.
2. A simpler version is to buy premade capes from retailers such as Amazon or Walmart. (24 children’s capes at Walmart.com for $65.50  so $3.28 a cape or adult capes which are more suitable for middle and high school for around $9 a cape. The price varies by several dollars depending on the length and color of the adult sized capes.
3. A free version is to cut capes out of old t-shirts. This is a wonderful way to reuse those old t-shirts that have discoloration in the underarms or holes in the sleeves or the front.  Only the back of the t-shirt needs to be in one piece. https://prettyprovidence.com/diy-no-sew-superhero-cape/

​​Possible decorations for the capes:

• Fabric paint (at Walmart $15.81 for a mixed tote of Tulip fabric paints with 15 colors.  Puffy fabric paint comes in a 12 pack for $9.97)
• Fabric markers ( 8 packs of stained by Sharpie fabric markers go for 10.57)
• Tacky glue (one gallon of Aileen’s tacky glue $30.85)
• Felt (100 piece assorted colors of felt 21.59)
• Needles and thread
• Sequins we had taken off an old costume
• Felt letter stickers left over from another craft
• Beads, bells, buttons, appliques, and any other creative decorations ​

*Pretty much anything goes as far as materials that can be used with the exception of things that are already branded.  For example, please don’t sew a batman patch on your capes. We want the capes to be one-of-a-kind cancer fighting superheroes.  

Evelyn’s Process

1. First Evelyn thought about what superhero she wanted to create and what superhero power she would have to fight cancer.  She filled out the description on the registration form and made pencil sketches and a plan of action on the back. 
2. Evelyn made a pattern out of scratch paper.  It was for her puppy face and bone. Evelyn tried several different sizes and shapes and held them up to her cape before she chose what one she liked the look of the best.  
3. Evelyn then cut out her puppy face and bone.  She glued on the big pieces and sewed on the puppies ears so that they would flop.  
4. She used fabric markers to draw on the puppy’s face.
5. Evelyn used some felt stickers that were left over from an old craft to label her cape PUPPY POWer.
6. Finally she added a ribbon bow because she just couldn’t get a collar to look right.

Maryana’s Process

1. Maryana first planned out her superhero and her superhero’s powers to fight cancer.  She sketched what the cape could possibly look like and filled out the registration form.
   
2. She knew she wanted to use fabric paint to make the unicorn’s head, so she made several patterns using freezer paper.  The one that she liked the best, she ironed onto the cape to use as a stencil. (Freezer paper peels right off without leaving any residue and make great stencils.)
   
3. She filled in the unicorn’s head with the pink fabric paint and the nose of the unicorn with the gold.
   
4. She next cut out a felt horn and lots of swoops of felt to make the mane.  These were glued on to the cape using Aleene’s tacky glue.
   
5. She added details to the unicorns face using fabric markers and wrote “Unicorn Girl” using Tulip 3D paint.
   
6. To add a little more sparkle, she used the turquoise sequins that were taken off of an old dance costume to the perimeter of the cape.  They were elastic sequins so they sewed flat on the sides and bottom and she sewed them on stretched out to create a gather at the top of the cape.  Maryana did all of the sewing, but her mom helped on the gathered top part by holding the sequins in place while she sewed. ​