March 6, 2009

Super Dora? (a tutorial....sort of)

I was in the mood to sew something quick and easy today, so I decided a friend of mine needed superhero capes for his grandkids. The two boys were easy:
....but the 3 year old girl loves DORA, not superheros. Here's what I created...after all a 3 year old just wants to play "capes" with everyone else, she doesn't care if a Dora cape makes no sense!


These capes are made out of fleece and are super easy to make since you don't have to finish the edges of fleece.

A 20 in. wide cut of fleece will make 2 capes:

Cut a piece 20 in wide and 24 in long. Cut the bottom edge the correct shape for whatever super hero you are making. I rounded the corners for Superman, made pointy "bat-wings" for Batman, and a scalloped edge for Dora.
I found logos for Superman and Batman online and printed them out to make the appliques. I used scraps for all the applique pieces. For Dora, I found a scrap from a previous project and cut out a Dora figure. Sparkly gold thread around the Dora appliques made it extra "girly".



for the neck loop, cut a strip of fleece 2 in. wide and 16 in. long.

Gather the top edge of the cape. Fold the strip in half lengthwise over the gathers and zig-zag stitch along along the long edge, enclosing the gathers inside. Stitch a piece of velcro to each end of the neck loop.


You can whip up one of these for your favorite little person in about 30 minutes, including cutting. And while you're at it, you might as well make two at once from your 20 in. cut of fleece and have an extra one on hand for a gift for your next birthday party invite!

These are going in the mail today to my friend and I can't wait to hear if Grandpa earns himself some good "brownie points" with superhero gifts for everyone!

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