A Super Super Hero Kit

My nephew Jack turns six tomorrow.  When I asked my sister in law for some gift ideas she said he was into The Avengers and Iron Man.  When I brought up a super hero cape she said he had just asked about one a few days before.  ‘Nuf said – a super hero cape it would be.

But not just any old super hero cape, cuz super hero’s gotta have a utility belt to hold all their stuff, a mask to protect their identity, and power cuffs to ward off villains.

I went out to Picmonkey and created a logo for the cape.  I used the star shapes for the starburst and Luckiest Guy font.

I traced the design in reverse onto some Heat n’ Bond and ironed it to the backside of the pleather.  Then I peeled the backing and ironed it onto the knit for the cape using a pressing cloth to protect the pleather.

Then I stitched along the edges to make sure it stayed in place.

For the mask I used Heat n’ Bond again and used some yellow t-shirt material as the liner to keep it soft against his face.

I sandwiched the elastic in between the layers. and edgstitched around the outside and the eye holes.

For the utility belt, I cut two rectangles out of the marine-grade vinyl and marked off 1 1/2″ intervals on one piece and 2″ on the red elastic.  I secured the ends using a box and x stitch and then lined up the marks and stitched them down.

I found this cool buckle with a reflector on it to use as the clasp for the belt.

On the other piece of vinyl, I used more of the red elastic to attach the two buckle pieces.

Then I sewed the two pieces together, tapering the edges to meet the elastic pieces.

I didn’t take any in-progress pictures for the power cuffs because I worked on them late and night and in little bursts when my girls were occupied.  I used part of the same starburst pattern from the logo and cut four pieces of the vinyl.  I tried sewing this on the machine, but it was too difficult to keep the points aligned and Heat n’ Bond wasn’t working to hold it in place.  So, I sat down and hand-stitched the edges, which gave it a really nice look, I think.  I did a pseudo French seam to attach it to a rectangle of the pleather which will allow it to stand out nicely when the cuff is on his wrist.  I ended up using a pretty convoluted method to fasten them – elastic and velcro, but I think it worked out fine and will allow it to fit for much longer.

I used more of the pleather, t-shirt material, and Heat n’ Bond to make the collar and more velcro to fasten it.

Jack has a brother, Alex.  Think there might be an Amazing Alex for his fourth birthday in December?  It felt good to flex my creative sewing skills again and make a special gift for a special little man in my life.  Now, back to Etsy sewing!

I’ll be linking up to many of these great parties:

Mondays Making the World Cuter Monday – Making the World Cuter Just Something I Whipped Up – The Girl Creative Party Blog Made By You Monday – Skip to My Lou Do It Yourself Day – A Soft Place to Land Craftastic Monday – Sew Can Do Making Mondays Marvelous – C.R.A.F.T. Market Yourself Monday – Sumo’s Sweet Stuff Creative Me Monday – The Southern Institute Tuesdays I Made It Without My Hubby – Shanty 2 Chic Sew Cute Tuesdays – Creative Itch Anything Related – All Things Related Tot Tuesdays – My Delicious Ambiguity Tute-in Tuesdays – Oops, I Craft My Pants Take a Look Tuesdays – Sugar Bee Craft Edition Shwin&Shwin Wednesdays We Did It Wednesdays – Sew Much Ado Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice – Seven Thirty Three Show & Tell – Blue Cricket Design Show Me What Ya Got – Not Just a Housewife Your Whims Wednesdays – My Girlish Whims Thursdays Strut-Your-Stuff – Somewhat Simple Make It, Wear It – The Train to Crazy It’s Stinkin’ Cute – Sew Stinkin’ Cute Show Off Your Stuff – Fireflies and Jellybeans Making It With Allie – What Allie’s Making Now Pinspirational Thursdays – The ArtsyGirl Connection Fridays Furniture Feature Friday – Miss Mustard Seed Weekend Wrap Up Party – Tatertots and Jello Feature Yourself Friday – Fingerprints on the Fridge Friday Fun Finds – KojoDesigns Weekends Check Me Out Saturday – A Vision to Remember Show and Tell Saturday – Be Different Act Normal Sunday Scoop – I Heart Naptime Sunday Showcase Party – Under the Table and Dreaming A Pinteresting Party – Tutus & Tea Parties Sunday Roundup – A Rosie Sweet Home