If my son had it his way, he would have a superhero themed birthday party each and every year. I totally understand him on this – when you love something so much why change it? Last year for my 40th, I had a mega fun Star Wars Lego Shark party. And I’m now thinking that I should repeat this theme every year for the rest of my life. But when my little man asked me to create a Superman party for his 9th year celebration, I wasn’t sure how I could make it significantly different from last year’s Captain America party. Ok, sure … this would be a DC party rather than a Marvel one … (which is certainly a big deal in this house as we were all in with Marvel until Isaac recently discovered Christopher Reeves as Superman) … but it’s still a basic superhero party. So, I turned to Pinterest.
If you haven’t already discovered Pinterest, well … I am sorry to get you addicted to something … but you might want to click this link. Give yourself at least two to seventy-two hours to peruse. Enjoy.
So, as I said, I turned to Pinterest for some ideas on superhero parties of every variety. I found more ideas than I could ever have time to create … but one idea got me super excited … and I documented my attempt at creating it so that I might share the info here.
Here goes … you too can make Superhero Capes out of old t-shirts!
Seriously.
Super easy.
First, check out your closets for old t-shirts that you don’t mind cutting up. If you find none, take a visit to a local thrift shop to purchase some cheap, colorful tees especially for this project. I purchased mine at Hands of Hope thrift shop on Hogan Road, Bangor. Check out the prices …
For my purposes, I wanted very colorful shirts in large sizes, and without wording or logos on the back. I spent a total of $4 plus tax for 5 shirts.
Here are the 6 basic steps I took to turn each t-shirt into a crime fighting superhero cape …
1. Lay out a clean, fairly wrinkle-free t-shirt.
2. Cut off the arms of the t-shirt.
3. Cut up both sides of the t-shirt.
4. Cut around the neck of the t-shirt so that you are left with only one side of the shirt left – without cutting off the neck band.
5. Fold remaining shirt in half. Trim around the cape to make a more uniform, even shape.
6. Design whatever shape you want to sew or iron on the back of the cape. Use leftover shirt material (I used the leftovers of other shirts I had cut up) or other fabric materials you have around the house to make the shapes. You can iron these on using fusible web. See here for instructions. You can purchase this webbing at JoAnns or Walmart for only a couple dollars a yard. Or you can simply sew the shapes onto the back of your cape.
That’s it!
And voila! A superhero!
But the birthday boy was wanting something a bit more special for himself … so I upped my game to create this little masterpiece …
So simple … so addictive … and SUCH A HIT! As soon as I passed them out, we basically had a party. Nothing else was needed. These kiddos transformed into various characters and took off playing.
Ok … admit it. You are now thinking of ways to make one of these in your size. And I am here to tell you it is entirely possible. Parents were not above trying these on and flying around the house. Oh the possibilities.
Give this a try. I would love to see what you come up with. Post your super awesomeness in the comments.
Enjoy!
Love,
Jodi