(There are more images of the cape below. I just wrote to much that you will have to go in to older posts to see them)A while back I talked about a granddaughter requesting cape.
She specifically asked for a pink cape with a red circle and the letters
S and G.
I thought "those are not her initials", but it very quickly came to me that the letters would stand for Super Girl. She also requested lightning bolts on the bottom of the cape, near the corners.
After that request I got involved helping my wife decorate a nursery for our youngest granddaughter.
It was soon apparent that there was going to be some major appliqueing to be done. Appliqueing is something I just have never really done.
THE CAPE GOT PIT ON THE BACK BURNER FOR A WHILE.
Well, the nursery is done, and the cape came up in conversation, as it had almost every time I saw the Super Girl in person.
So......... two days ago, with my recent applique experience in hand, I dove into the world of the superhero.
I apologize for not taking more detailed how to pics of the initial steps. I planned on it......but just kept working and did not take pictures.
I want to say that I was committed to making this cape from materials that I already had on hand.
- I cut the cape out of 60 inch poly satin fabric.
- The red circle of the emblem is kind of a heavy crepe material with wonder under to stabilize it.
- I downloaded the letters from a free monogram site, enlarged them, cut them out and used that as my pattern. I did the same thing with the lightning bolts. I enlarged it as much as I could, then free handed a larger one on packing paper to make a pattern, then flip flopped the pattern to get the bolts curving in opposite directions.
- The letters and the lightning bolts are crinkled poly silk, with wonder under for stabilization.
- I made the top of the cape wide because I intended to gather or pleat it onto a band, so that it fit more like a regular cape, coming around the shoulders, versus just hanging down the back. I like more fabric in almost every project.
- I was going to have the cape tie at the neck, but as you will see, in the end, I opted for magnets, for safety sake. Although sewing magnets in was a pain in every sense, when they kept attaching themselves to the sewing machine and my serger, which sits right next to the sewing machine, oh and to my shears, and measuring tape ends AND to each other. Make a special note to yourself to pay close attention to which way each magnet faces, so that the correct ATTRACTION is acheived, otherwise they will repel each other, and you will be ripping seams to change one around. I should mention also that if the magnet is not secured properly in a little pocket, they can flip change position and cause no end of trouble.
- I did a rolled hem around all of the outer edges. It is a nice finish but I started to get a lettuce edge along the outsides. Too much on the bias, I guess.
