cowboy cape

Superhero capes are probably my favorite thing to make. The whole process - from conceptualizing, to designing, to sewing, to giving - is a true delight. This one has been in the project pile for quite a while. It is for one of the cutest toddlers I know - a cowboy named Henry. I think he's finally tall enough to wear it!

Marcus is always eager to model capes for me. He just started Karate, like his brother, and he uses any opportunity to showcase his new moves.

The lining fabric is a simple brown-and-white polka dot flannel for JoAnn's. I was pleased with this fabric because it is much softer than they typical flannel I find at JoAnn's.

The main fabric is Michael Miller Yippee Cowboy Retro. It is so charming... and what could be better than a cowboy and a superhero in one?

This little sucker is giving me a real run for my money lately! But he is so darn cute - I think that is his not-so-secret superpower.

:) Shelly

captain america cape

As part of a fundraiser for Marcus' preschool, I donated a custom-made superhero cape. Archie's mom won the cape, and after she conducted a sleuth interview with her son, she told me that his perfect cape would have a Captain America theme with his favorite color, purple, worked into it.

She also suggested a purple satin lining. None of my capes have ever had a satin lining, but I loved it! Marcus told me that the satin was really silky, too.

The cape came together fantastically! The red and white stripe was not quite as wide as I would have liked, but it looked great with the blue and gold, anyways. I included a little purple on the back of the cape to tie the whole thing together. I think the Captain America vibe is definitely there! I sure hope Archie likes his cape. Making capes is probably my favorite sewing project, especially when the kids design them themselves.

I have a few more projects in the works. Hopefully I'll be back soon!

:) Shelly

birthday cape for Marcus

Super Marcus turned 3 last week. This poor child has been coveting his brother's superhero cape for the last year now, so I finally made him one of his own.

Marcus chose the theme of his party - a Rainbow Party! I didn't go nuts on the rainbow theme, but I did satisfy him with a Skittles rainbow cake, lots of rainbow colored balloons, and a rainbow pipe cleaner craft. He wore his brother's cape for the entire party (while the one I was making him was sitting upstairs on my sewing table in pieces!).

Marcus went to the fabric store with me to choose his fabrics for his cape. He picked this train flannel from JoAnn's (which I also used a while back for Evan's cape) and some cool roadway flannel for the lining.

At first Charlie was very envious of Marcus' cape (my cape making skills have improved over the past 3.5 years!), but I quickly reminded him that he has not one, not two, but THREE superhero capes! This seemed to please him and he quit complaining.

Marcus' favorite part of his cape is the big M on the back. On his actual birthday he wore his cape on his scooter ride to pick up Charlie from school. It was the cutest thing, and I was enjoying it way too much to stop to take a photo of it. You'll just have to believe me.

Here's that roadway flannel from JoAnn's. I am cursing myself for not buying more when it was on super sale just before Christmas. I think I'm just too engrossed in all things pink.

:) Shelly

super zip!

This past weekend we went to a birthday party for Charlie's friend, Max (also known as his own speedy superhero, Super Zip!). Of course, I felt it my duty to fashion Super Zip with a superhero cape.

Please note that Super Zip actually carries a ray gun, not a sword. Charlie was improvising here. Being my super sneaky self, I casually asked Max about Super Zip one day last week at preschool. He informed me that Super Zip has a red cape with pockets, then he zoomed off to play with some balloons. Hmmm....pockets?

I checked with Callie, Max's mom, who confirmed that the pockets are probably to stash superhero things in, not to warm his hands in. So I added some patch pockets near the corners of the cape on the lining side. I made them fairly commodious, but probably not ample enough for his ray gun, which Callie described as being adult size that blows smoke rings. Whoa, I have to see this!

I just have to add this photo that was taken on Saturday at the Emerald City Comicon. Chris and I have been to Comicon before (Chris collects comics), but never with the kids. It was pretty amazing and a little bit crazy. Charlie was totally impressed. I loved that he chose to wear his own superhero cape (and that blasted sword, of course) when he has a Spider-Man costume and a Buzz Lightyear costume at home. Looks like Charlie is his own kind of superhero, kind of like Max.

:) Shelly

transportation cape

Last night I finished the last of the custom-order superhero capes.

This is the second cape I made for a friend's two sons (check out the first construction-themed one here). She asked for a "very BOY cape." I wanted to make this cape different from the first, but not too different... I didn't want there to be a superior cape since the boys would be sharing them. Both capes have "B"s on them for the boys' last name.

I really like how this cape came out. It was fun to make a larger version of the little green truck in the print. I wish I had found this print long ago when I was making the crib bedding for Charlie (but then again, we didn't know if he was boy or girl until he was born).

Little did we know we were having "Super Boy!" Charlie chose to model this cape pirate-style, complete with eye-patch and spyglass. I went back and forth about the trim color for this cape: red vs. navy. But, in the end, I thought red might look to Christmas-y with the green lining of the cape. I think I made the right choice.

So, here's where I sum up my experience making and selling custom-made superhero capes. It was really fun, but it kind of stressed me out too much. Maybe it was because of the holidays and the fact that six orders came in pretty much all at once. Or, maybe it is just the whole deadline thing in general. I don't know. What I did figure out is that I won't be opening an Etsy shop anytime soon. Sewing is my relaxing hobby, and trying to make a business out of it took the relaxing (and the hobby) right out of it. I've decided that I will still make custom capes for friends and acquaintances who would like to order one... but I'm going to keep it super informal. That's me: Super Informal Girl. My cape is just invisible, you see.

:) Shelly

flaming arrow cape

Please forgive my blurry pictures. I was having some trouble with my camera yesterday and didn't realize these were so blurry until I uploaded them today (after already delivering the cape to its new owner). Anyways, here is Elliot's flaming arrow superhero cape!

Elliot is Violet's sister (whose cape I made a few weeks ago). Now, I've never met Elliot, but I totally want to! He designed this cape himself! His mom sent me an email describing his cape design: On the inside it would be black, and on the outside it would be blue with a big fire starting on the bottom coming up and a big orange arrow outlined in black in the middle. She specified later that the arrow should be pointing upwards.

I think I nailed it! I found this Alexander Henry flame fabric and thought *perrrrfect!*.

The inside is black with very a tiny, subtle dark grey circle pattern.

Charlie and his buddy, Charlie B., took turns modeling the cape for me, but all photos came out blurry. ARGHHH! That stinky little Marcus was playing with my camera settings so I'm totally blaming him. You like Charlie's shoes? Ha! He is one clumsy superhero in those!

One more cape coming this week, then I plan to make a superhero cape for Marcus for his big 2nd birthday! I guess I just can't stop!

:) Shelly

attention all superheros: wear capes at your own risk!

I actually finished these two capes last Thursday, but was delayed in posting photos of them because of a (possible) superhero cape related injury involving my senior superhero, Charlie.

Here's the story (and also a disclaimer if I've sold or gifted you a cape!):

Last Thursday, I was walking into toddler preschool with Marcus (these capes in hand to deliver), when I received a call from my friend and fellow mom at Charlie's cooperative preschool. Charlie had fallen off of the climber at his school and hit his head. The (many) quick-thinking parents who attended to him called 911 because it appeared that he blacked-out for a second or two. He was okay, but when I got there he was being prepared to be transported to the ambulance so that they could take him to the hospital to check him over - just as a precaution.

We rode in the ambulance to the ER at Harborview Medical Center, talking the whole way about the similarities between the real ambulance and his Playmobil ambulance at home. I held his hand and tried not to look scared (even though I was freaking out). Once we got to the hospital and he was taken out of the apparatus they used to keep his head and neck stationary, he was his typical gregarious, chatty self - totally charming all of the nurses and doctors. No CT scan, no overnight stay, just about an hour of observation, a follow-appointment with our pediatrician, and a prescription for lots of rest.

One theory for the cause of his fall was that the superhero cape he was wearing got caught up under his feet while he was climbing around on the play structure. Whatever the cause, these are accidents that just happen when you're a kid (and a superhero), and we're just relieved our Super Charlie is okay. Moral of the story: no climbing with your cape on! Additional moral of the story: cooperative preschool rocks and there is nowhere else I'd want my kids to be!

Now, onto the capes...

This one is for Liam who loves firetrucks and animals. I used some of the fleece from my dalmatian costume for the puppy's head (it is difficult to see, but there are also little dalmatian firedogs in the firetruck print).

Charlie really liked this cape and didn't want to take it off.

The lining is a red check-like pattern that matched up with the firetrucks quite well. I took this photo the morning of Charlie's accident - so you can see how fired-up he was about being a superhero that day!

Okay, this is seriously my favorite cape I've ever made. I was really nervous when starting this cape for Malaika who loves giraffes and the color orange. I couldn't make the orange work in the cape design, but I think I totally nailed the giraffe request!

I used some scraps of this fabric for the burp cloths I recently made. It is totally adorable fabric! I found some free clip art to use for tracing the giraffe. It is really difficult to draw a giraffe (at least for me!).

The lining on the inside of the cape is the best part, though. I mean, how perfect is that?! Thanks for spotting that for me at the fabric store, Anna!

I have two more superhero capes on order to finish before New Year's Eve. I'm looking forward to a little break from cape making so that I can be fresh for these last two. The only Christmas presents I'm making are an aporn and some pillowcases for my nieces and nephews, so hopefully I can get those completed before our Christmas trip to Chicago!

:) Shelly

capes for sale

I've delivered two of the five custom-made capes that have been ordered so far. The most enjoyable part of making these was seeing how excited the recipients were when I presented the finished capes to them!

Violet's mom asked her what her ideal superhero cape would look like if she had one. Violet answered, "sparkly star ponies". So this is what I came up with. (Note that I have returned to my felt-using ways. Fleece, you are too unpredictable for me.)

See the sparkles? Love that fabric! Charlie kind of looks like a zombie here rather than a sparkly-star-pony superhero.

He didn't protest to modeling the cape for me, though - which is surprising because he is very sensitive about wearing "girly" capes.

This one is for Dominic and Matty to share. Well, I'm actually making a second one for them so that the don't have to share! The "B" is for their last name, and their mom asked for a very BOY cape. I was delighted with how the dump truck turned out!

Orange and blue is one of my favorite color combinations (Go Bears!).

And, Marcus' superhero pose totally rocks!

More capes coming soon!

:) Shelly

super dino-mite cape

My sweetie pie nephew, Zach turned 4 this week! He is an avid collector of all things dinosaur, so I made him a superhero cape with a prehistoric theme for his big day.

Being the junior paleontologist he is, I knew that Zach would prefer more realistic looking dinosaurs over the cute cartoonish ones. I can't even pronounce (much less spell!) the name of the swimming dinosaur that is is favorite. Plus, my skills in drawing a realistic dinosaur are seriously lacking, so Zach got a cute brontosaurus silhouette on the back of his cape.

The inside of the cape is just a simple beige print.

And I used some of that very, very cute dinosaur print flannel that I had left from this project for the cape's collar. I am cursing myself for not buying more of that fabric when I had the chance!

A big change for me was that I used fleece (instead of felt) for the emblem this time around. I know that fleece will hold up much better in the washing machine than felt does, but it was very difficult to cut clean edges using the fleece. I think my little bronto friend came out okay, but he would have been much sharper if I had used felt. Hmmm. I'll have to think about this.

I am making four (maybe five) more capes before Christmas. This is my first experiment with selling custom superhero capes. So far, it has been fun finding the fabric for each cape theme... now I just have to get cutting and sewing!

Anyways... Happy Birthday, Zach! Can't wait to see you soon, Mr. Dinosaur Superhero!

:) Shelly

super monkey cape

Just what I needed to alleviate those post-Halloween blues... sewing a superhero cape. Yep, putting my foot to the pedal while sitting in the sunny sunroom sewing this afternoon made me happy as a lark!

This cape is a birthday present for Marcus' friend, Lucy (aka: Lu). She is a big fan of monkeys.

I am a big fan of the bright yellow and blue combination. Marcus is a big fan of the Annie's fruit snacks he was awarded for modeling Lu's cape.

He didn't stay still for long! Even though Lu is only 2 years old (only a wee bit older than Marcus), I decided to make my standard cape size for her. This way she can grow into it, but still get some good wear out of it now. From my experience, the hard-core cape wearing really begins around age 3... like to the grocery store, to school, to the airport, etc. So, for now the ends of the cape will probably only drag on the floors of your own house, Andrea!

Or Lu can always lift the ends off of the ground like my little gentleman did here. (Random comment: I know that Marcus needs a haircut, but I think that his ragamuffin look is too cute, so I am finding excuses why I can't take him to the barber shop.)

Up next: I think I might participate in a sew-a-long. House on Hill Road has a pillow sew-along coming up this Sunday. Our bed needs some serious help, and I purchased some fabulous fabric from IKEA a looong time ago to improve its dire situation. This sew-along might just be the kick-in-the-pants that I've needed to get my project going.

:) Shelly

one weekend, three birthday parties!

After finishing The Great Scrap Coat Challenge on Wednesday, I entered myself into an unofficial contest: The Great Birthday Gift Sewing Marathon! Charlie had three birthday parties to go to this weekend, and I was determined to make a homemade gift for each little birthday sweetie.

For the two birthday girls, I made backpacks like the one I made for my niece, Abby. I used MADE's Hobo Sack tutorial, and just did a few things differently to go from sack to pack:

(1) I added a pocket by cutting out a doubled-up (wrong sides together) piece of fabric using the Hobo Sack pattern, but only making it 8" tall from the bottom, then I added some bias tape to the top, basted the pocket to the front of the bag, and sewed up the middle of the pocket to divide it into two smaller pockets.

(2) I left a 1/2 inch gap at the bottom of each side of the bag (just next to the corner seams), which I later poked the straps through and stitched closed.

(3) I made the straps each 50" long (then adjusted them for a snug fit on my model before stitching them inside of the gaps at the sides).

Charlie is modeling Ella's backpack - Ella had a truly "dino-mite" party. I was so impressed with the creativity and organization her mom, Jaimee, achieved with so many kids there. Seriously, there were discovery centers set up and everything! Charlie had tons of fun, as did all the kids.

Marcus is modeling Anna's backpack - sweet little butterflies for my favorite little nature lover. Anna's party was super fun, too. Charlie took up semi-permanent residence in the sandbox, played basketball with his pals, and used giant bubble wands to make some pretty impressive bubbles. The thing I liked best about Anna's party was the gluten-free cake, which Karen (a fabulous baker) made (in addition to a white flour BEAUTIFUL ocean-scene cake) for the four of us GF guests. She's always so thoughtful.

I just had to include this picture of Marcus. He kept taking the backpack off before I could get a shot of him wearing it (which is why Charlie ended up modeling this one). Here he actually turned around and yelled, "HEY!" at me.

In addition to the bags, I made a birthday cape. This one was for Charlie's buddy, Charlie B, who had an amazing rocket party. Not only was this party fun, but the decorations and table arrangements were beautiful - I felt like I was inside of a birthday issue of Martha Stewart Living! Charlie's parents, Andrea and Jon, both have a sense of style and design that I would die to have.

Some of you have asked about my cape dimensions. This one is 13" wide at the top (with a 21" long collar strap), 36" wide at the bottom, and the length is 25" (Those are finished dimensions - I used a 1/2" seam allowance). I think this may be my favorite cape ever. I didn't intentionally try to make it have a retro look, but it totally turned out that way. I think Charlie B. really liked it, even though he had to wait a couple of days to get it, since his party was Saturday and I gifted this to him at a park playdate this morning. Such patience - maybe because he's four now!

Guess who else has a birthday coming up? That's right, my Charlie is turning the big 0-4 at the end of the month! I just scrambled to get his birthday party invitations out this morning. I hope I can come up with something as fun and darling as any of these parties we've been to this weekend! Wish me luck!

sew up seattle at the seafair parade

The Greenwood Seafair Parade was fantastic! And, Charlie wore his scrap coat the entire time, which made me so happy. He totally earned his ice cream at the end.

Charlie and his friend, Emmet, pose in front of the Sew Up Seattle truck.

The parade got off to a late start, which required us to try to entertain the little ones in the parade staging area. Check out Emmet's fish coat! I never did get to see him do his "crazy fish dance," though. I am impressed with Alex, Emmet's mom, who finished sewing Emmet's coat on the bus on the way to the parade!

While we waited for the parade to begin, we checked-out the crazy pirates.

And, we watched this very serious drill team practice.

Then, as the minutes dragged on, we observed the pirates socializing with the drill teams. This particular pirate is scratching his back with is plastic sword - a very pirate-y move.

The Seafair Clowns paid us a visit. Charlie and I went over to meet them and inquire about a balloon. We walked away with a sticker, a very cool button, and a few mildly inappropriate comments. Apparently the clowns had spent a good part of the waiting time in the bar across the street.

The Sew Up Seattle crew was composed of some very fun, crafty folks. I can't remember this sewer's name, but she was marvelous. Charlie rode on her shoulders at the beginning of the parade.

Then he did some marching.

From left to right: Chris, Marcus (in stroller), Charlie, Alex, Emmet, Shawn

The kids rode in the back of the truck for part of the parade, too. Chris asked Charlie if he could wear the cape, and Charlie refused him the privilege! Can you see them sewing in the back of the truck? During the parade they were making the banners that the rest of us were holding on to!

This was my favorite coat, made by Clare (who was driving the truck). Love it!

We exited the parade about three blocks before the end due to extreme fatigue of the little ones. It was exciting to see some of the parade go by before we headed home. This group was my favorite of all!

And the clowns were more fun to watch from afar.

But, that Sponge Bob clown still totally freaked me out, even at a safe distance.

By the way, Sew Up Seattle placed third in the "Community Novelty" category! Hooray! Thank you, Sew Up Seattle! We had a great time!