cape, power cuffs and utility belt…

So, I’ve told you about my major crush on Dana at Made…well, I have to admit that this month…
the crush is worse.
See, she is holding a Celebrate the Boy party all month of March!
Since I live in a house dominated by boys a party for boys makes my crush a SUPER crush!

I was sparked by one of Dana’s guest bloggers. Her name is Jenny and she is from SIDAC (Southern Institute for Domestic Arts and Crafts). She shared her Super Hero Cape tutorial and I knew that more than one of those puppies was destined to find a home with us!

You see, the boys in this house have been obsessed…yes, obsessed with Batman and Robin! The funny part about this is, my blue boy is too young still to be obsessed with anything but his blankie.

When I refer to “boys” I mean my green boy and my Mr.Wilson boy…as demonstrated here:

Don’t you worry Mr. Wilson, a Robin cape is heading your way!

In the mean time, this little Batman has been thoroughly enjoying his new display of awesomeness with his cape and power cuffs.
(The cape takes approximately 12 minutes to complete
and the power cuffs approximately 20 minutes to complete.)
When I was finished with Jenny’s great tutorial I was informed that there was a problem.
Batman didn’t have a way to carry around his boomerangs…
so we had one bummed out Batman! 

That led to an addition to Jenny’s tutorial with my tutorial for the utility belt.

After you make your cape, you are left with the front half of a t-shirt as scraps.
That is what I used here to create the belt.

Your measurements will obviously be determined by the size of your superhero.
I made two belts…one for the blue boy and one 3 inches longer for the green boy.

I’m going to give you the measurements for the smaller belt
(if it helps you…my blue boy is 1 yr. old and my green boy is almost 5).

I cut two strips from my scraps measuring 22.5 inches by 3.5 inches for the belt.

Then I cut two rectangles measuring 12.5 inches by 7.5 inches for the pocket.

To make the pocket a little sturdier I cut a rectangle of interfacing measuring 7 inches by 5 7/8 inches and ironed it to the wrong side of my fabric leaving a 1/4 fabric around the edges.

then, I folded it in half over the top of the interfacing.
You should be looking at the right side of the fabric once it is folded over.

I then folded the other rectangle of fabric I had to match the one with the interfacing and layered them right on top of each other so it looks like this… (the top of your pocket will be the folded edge)

the bottom of your pocket, where you will sew closed should have the four layers + interfacing. Like this…

now let’s get the belt ready…
Cut a piece of interfacing measuring 22 inches by 3 inches and iron it onto the wrong side of one of your strips of fabric leaving a 1/4 inch of fabric on all sides.

Now layer your strips right sides together and run through the machine.
Sewing with a 1/4 inch seam and leaving one 3 inch end open for turning.

When you are finished, clip the corners…

and turn.

Fold your open end inside…like you did with the power cuff (picture of this step didn’t turn out) and sew a 1/4 top stitch all the way around.
Then apply the Velcro with glue or sewing…your choice
(just like in Jenny’s tutorial).
I actually used sticky Velcro I had left over from something else and glued it too just in case.

Now to finish off the pocket. Run your pocket through the machine sewing a 1/4 seam all the way around your raw edges leaving your folded seams open like this…

clip the edges and turn…

Now you have a pocket fit for little hands.

Then I just took the pocket and sewed one side to the belt.

Here is the view from the inside.
(It took me approximately 27 minutes to complete the belt from start to finish)

Now, you can stop here, but I wanted to finish it off with a little something special…to match Batman’s cape because well, superheroes MUST match…right?!?!

I took the same fabric I used for the Batman symbol on the cape and ironed a piece of freezer paper to it.
(The Batman symbol on the cape too me approximately 27 minutes to complete)

Then I drew the Batman symbol on the paper…

Cut it out, and peeled the paper off the fabric.

Then I used a Heat N’ Bond type material to iron that bat on the pocket.
(The symbol on the pocket took me approximately 15 minutes to complete)

So now Batman doesn’t just have boomerangs, but a place to keep them on his person at all times.

And as you can see…they are quite the threatening tool!

This cape has been such a hit that I’ve been eyeing some more t-shirts whose fate might lie in fighting evil…
a pink one is begging for a home with a little girl I know whose brothers love to play superheroes!

So whether you are a Mother, Grandmother, Aunt, Uncle, etc. I’m SURE there is a little person you know who would be absolutely THRILLED to receive such a fun accessory for playtime!

Remember, my times will be a little different from yours…
and I had some trouble with my Heat N’ Bond ing so you can probably cut down some time there!
Also, my life is usually in a constant state of interruption so I usually accomplish these steps sporadically throughout the day or multiple days.
You can do it too!
But a cape in 12 minutes! You can’t beat that!

I hope you go check out Jenny’s tutorial + my utility belt and try it out for a little person you know…
See you tomorrow!