No Sew Super Hero Cape!

So I heard on the radio today that there are 300 registered superheros in the United States. What?!? Really??? I wonder what the qualifications are for that, and how did they form a registry anyways?

But it got me thinking about my own little superhero, and how to make him a cape. So I came up with this really easy, no sew cape that you can use for dress-ups or costumes, birthday parties - whatever!

Step one: Get a shirt in the color you want your cape to be. Lay it out on a table/flat surface face up. If the shirt doesn't already have fold lines, you may want to iron it so it does. It makes cutting easier later.

Step two: With chalk or wash out marker, trace out the following pattern on the front of the shirt:

Up the sides across the corners, and around the collar.

Step three: Turn the shirt over so the back is facing up, and mark it like so -

run the line from the top of where it ended on the front up to the side of the collar on both sides.

Now you have your cut lines!

Step four: Cut the sleeves and the front of the shirt off, following your cut lines, keeping the back and the collar intact.

You should end up with a triangle shape topped by the collar of the shirt.

Lastly, clean up your cut lines to ensure that there aren't any funky cut marks and everything is in line. I also took some fabric paint and added a letter "J" to the back, using tape to help make it straight:

So Bea was watching me do this part, and she said "Oh are you adding an ego?" 

"A what?" I asked.

"An ego, you know," she said.

"You mean a logo?" I questioned.

"Yeah, ego, logo, evo, pickle - what ever," Bea replied.

Man I love that girl, she's always good for a laugh.

It took about 2 hours for the fabric paint to dry. I pulled off the tape and walla! One happy superhero :) 

Jay loves this thing, and one of the best parts is that he can put it on and take it off himself. No need to worry about tying, or it coming undone while he's flying around fighting crime. And if it gets dirty, we can throw it in the wash easily. If you don't want to add a painted logo you can skip it, use an iron on transfer, custom make an iron on transfer with a special kit from the craft store, or just leave it off entirely. 
*Update, found this site sugartotdesigns.blogspot.com that has easy superhero logo tutorials - brilliant! Use these if you like to add an insignia to your cape using felt.

Bea has already claimed the scraps to make into a shrug, so I will be posting that tutorial later.

Happy crafting!

Super Easy T-shirt Vest

I found this amazing blog through Pinterest (so addicted to that site) called Wobisobi and the blogger there, Ann, has this incredible fashion sense that she has used to create tons of tutorials for making and upcycling your own clothes. From one of her tutorials I made this:

This vest took about 10 minutes to make, start to finish. Ann's tutorial is here. If you are super fast you can make this in 5, but I went back and redid some of the cutting to make it fit better. One of the great things about Wobisobi is that Ann really takes the time to explain it step by step, so even the most craftily challenged among us can tackle this project easily.

The shirt was bought at Walmart for less than $4. My husband seriously thought I was out of my mind for cutting up a brand new shirt, but he was impressed with how it turned out and admitted it was a good idea. Did I mention this project has NO SEWING involved???

You can personalize this a little more by dip dying the ends, or adding buttons or fringe or some cute fabric stamping, or even lace trim. The possibilities are endless! One small alteration I made to the tutorial was to cut the hole a little more to one side than the other; I wanted a slightly wider back and smaller collar. You could, if you wanted to do a bit of sewing, add a back panel of some stretchy lace (if you don't want to sew, use fusible webbing and an iron to attach).

Do yourself a favor and stop by Wobisobi, you will be so glad you did!