How To Make A Superhero Cape Tutorial

Do you have a superhero in your family? Some time ago, I made superhero capes for each of the littles. On a warm sunny day, they can be found in the backyard, clad in capes, defending justice. Our wonderful neighbors are often seen sitting in the shade of their porch, enjoying the show. Yes, we are those neighbors.

Recently the littles were invited to a friend’s superhero-themed birthday party. They insisted it was the perfect time to recruit a new hero, and I just had to make him his own special superhero cape. I even threw in a mask….to keep his identity secret, of course.

The Cape

To determine the amount of material needed, measure your child from the base of the neck to the approximate length you want the cape to hang. Our friend is about Little Bears size, which is good for the average-sized 4-6 year old, so I knew I needed it to be about 24 inches long. I purchased one yard of two different coordinating fabrics. You will want to wash, dry, and iron the fabric before beginning.

Step 1: Place the two fabrics together and fold in half length-wise. Cut the top of the fabric, as shown in the picture, to round the upper outer corner. (I’m not sure why the blue piece is folded back for the picture. You want to cut both pieces the same.)  Seriously I just eyeballed this. You can do it!

Measuring down the fold, cut across the bottom to the length you measured on your child. Save the scraps as you will use them later.

Step 2: On one piece of fabric, add a creative touch. Choose the fabric you think your child will use as the outside of the cape. I used scraps from the coordinating fabric to add a letter. You could also add a symbol. Be creative!!

I pinned the letter to the upper center area and did a zig-zag stitch around the edge.

Step 3: Put the two fabrics right sides together and stitch around the sides and bottom. Turn the cape inside out through the opening at the top, and press. Stitch around the side and bottom edge as shown in the picture. The top can be left open. I will be stitched when adding the collar.

Step 4: From the remaining scraps, cut a strip 5-6 inches wide and 20-21 inches long. This is for the collar, so you will want to make it longer for a larger child. Fold the strip in half and iron to crease. Fold the outside edges to the center crease and iron. (You could add interfacing if you want the collar to be heavier. I have not found it necessary.) Fold the end raw edges in and iron to keep in place.

Step 5: Pin the collar to the cape. Fold the collar over the opened area of the cape and pin it in place. Stitch along the sides and bottom edge of the collar to attach it to the cape.

Step 6: Attach Velcro to the collar. I prefer Velcro as it’s easy for little fingers to operate. Hey, you never know when a villainous brother might try to detour you with a treacherous cape pull and you need to implement a quick detach maneuver…it could happen!

Step 7: Hang the completed cape and take a picture. This is probably the only time you will have a chance. As a bonus, I thought a mask would be a cool addition to our gift. I used a tutorial I found at Slow Mama. (Update: this link is no longer available, but there are many other tutorials.) This was a first-time project, so it came out a little rough. Fortunately, the birthday boy was not a critic.

If you could choose, what superhero power would you want??