My kids spend the better part of every day dressing up and "playing pretend". A few weeks back, in the middle of an intense make-believe session, Gage realized that he couldn't be a proper superhero without the outfit to go with. And so, the cape request. It needs some embellishment, but considering that it was whipped out mere hours before his birthday party, I'm feeling pretty good. 
I kind of made it up as I went along, but this cape is very similar to the one here. I guess the main differences between my cape and the one in the tute are these: 1) I used a whole yard of fabric for mine (she gets two smaller capes out of one yard),
2) I bound the edges with double fold bias tape instead of serging them (too lazy to change out the thread in my serger), and
3) I attached a full, wool felt collar to this one that would stand up in the back. I think that gives it a little more dramatic flair, don't you? Plus it attaches in front with Velcro, thereby eliminating the need for Mama to tie it on every time he decides he wants to be a Super.
Oh, and I used my favorite freezer paper applique trick for the "G". It's a pretty simple technique. First, I got my wool felt piece ready by attaching iron-on fusible webbing to one side, leaving the backing paper attached. Set that aside. Next, I printed the "G" on my printer in the size and font I wanted, then traced it onto plastic-coated freezer paper, plastic coating down. (These steps could probably be consolidated, if I just printed directly onto the non-plastic side of my freezer paper. Thoughts?)
Okay, so next, I ironed the freezer paper, again with the plastic side down, onto the unfused side of my wool felt, then cut the "G" out of the paper, felt and fusible webbing all at the same time. Peeled the fusible webbing backing off the bottom and the freezer paper off the top and Bam! A perfect "G" patch ready to be ironed on and stitched down. I just used a simple straight stitch around the edges, but, of course, you could use any stitch you like. Or, if you used No-Sew, you could believe the Heat'n'Bond folks when they say you don't have to stitch it down. That's never worked well for me, though. Especially for kids' stuff that will probably need frequent washing.
Gage wasn't the only birthday kid on my list. More birthday posts to come once I'm sure they've been received.
And, for more fun with freezer paper, click here...
Or, enjoy some random birthday weekend pics:
This is the second year that Gage has requested a chocolate cake with green icing. Can do, buddy.
And we just couldn't go home without more overpriced, cheaply made, plastic toys courtesy of Daddy, could we?
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3 comments:
So cute. I love him, I love his cape, and I love his penchant for chocolate cake with green icing. :-)
You can actually print on the non-plastic side of your freezer paper, but you might need to iron it to a regular sheet of paper to make it less floppy. I've ironed it to fabric and run that through my printer also.
I was just thinking of the hysterical "NO CAPES" dialogue on the Incredibles with Edna. Tell Gage to stay away from jets when he is flying.
L - Yeah, I totally know. I almost pointed that out when he said he needed a cape to be a superhero. But I didn't feel like going there with Mr. Literal him. It is funny though. :)
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