capes for super superheroes::idiot delay

When I got to my sewing machine this morning, I found this:

Is this...can this be an order for a cape emblem?  Printed out and signed, too! Thus cape-making becomes a family activity.

I had a lovely discussion about clipping curves planned for today, did all the work, took all the photos, went to upload them, and found that my husband had changed the settings to take a photo of a sleeping baby boy and I had failed to check them before I began.  All the pictures are, unfortunately, less than useable for our purposes here. Judging by the number of people who have read, used, and loved the continuous bound placket tutorial, I would say that quality photos in a nuts-and-bolts sewing discussion ought to be top priority. 

Thus, sadder and wiser, I will go forward again, check my camera settings, and get back with you.  By the way, if anybody has superpowers, such as turning back the clock so you could tap me on the shoulder, I'd appreciate it if you'd let me know.

~Erin~

capes for super superheroes::day 2

I have a problem in my house.  When I start cooking, no matter what time of day, my children are suddenly starving.  They dance around the kitchen, getting in my way and making me trip, sticking their fingers up on cutting board under knives, begging for food and trying desperately to eat all the ingredients of what I'm making before I can actually make it.

One of these days I'm going to get wise and just throw all the ingredients on the table without taking the extra steps. 

All of this is to say, that this is what's going on in my house right now with the superhero capes.  I didn't mention to my two little boys what I was doing, but as soon as I put a shiny piece of blue satin on the dress form, they knew.  And ever since I've been holding them off with one hand and sewing their capes with the other.  They want these capes.

So let's get busy on them, shall we?

Yesterday, as you recall, we had cut the capes out and had them waiting and ready for embellishing.  Today, as you might suspect, we'll embellish.

What we're using for the applique is fusible web.  There were two weights of fusible web at my store, and I chose the lighter one. 

We're going to use a circle as the bottom layer of our cape emblem, and I've traced around a small plate on the paper side of the fusible web to make one. 

The directions for using fusible web generally come with the web itself, but the essentials are like this:  Trace something fun on the paper.  Cut close to but not on the lines.  Fuse the gluey side to the wrong side of your fabric, and cut on the lines through the paper and fabric to make a sharp edge for your shape. 

I realize that this causes a serious conundrum for those of us who keep "paper scissors" and "fabric scissors" separate.  Because this is paper and fabric glued together.  I realize that the fabric scissors are sacred.  All I can say is, you're going to have to reach way down inside yourself and choose.  Here I cannot guide you.      

Removing the paper and ironing the circle down gives us this...(left)

Doing it again with a star gives us this...(right)

We've definitely got the "blows in the wind" requirement down.

Adding a letter gives us this:

If you have an applique shape that is not symmetrical, like most letters, you'll need to trace it onto the fusible web paper backward, so that when you cut it out it's facing the right way.  Unless backward lettering is part of your superhero's logo, of course. 

At this point all that's left is to satin-stitch over the edges of each of your shapes.  ("All that's left" was very easy to say, wasn't it?)  There are some very good tips for satin stitching here, but the best teacher here is experience on fabric scraps until you feel confident with satin stitching.  If you yet fear satin stiching, you could always cover the edges of your appliques with *gasp* fabric paint. 

We're not, though.  We're going straight through. 

We have several layers of applique here. We're going to start with the bottom layer and work our way up, so that the stitching on the top layer covers the edges of the stitching on the lower layers.

Here you can see the finished product, with the yellow threads I haven't cut yet pointing to where I started and stopped on the lightning bolt outline: 

Because this is thin fabric, all that heavy stitching is going to make it pucker and roll and do all manner of detestable things, unless we use some stabilizer. Now, if you're a purist, it would probably be best not to read this next part.  If you're a purist, you'll probably want to purchase some type of nice, wash-away stabilizer to iron to the back of your applique project.

Me, I just use a sheet of printer paper.

A couple of pins hold the paper in place until we get going, and the hundreds of needle pokes perforate the paper at just the right spot, making it tear off easily. 

(Don't tell the purists.)

Here's a close-up of my satin stitching.  As you see, it isn't perfect.

Once I've trimmed the threads and pressed it, though, and (here's the important part) stepped back a few feet, they look very nice. 

And there we are! Two superheroes in the works.  Next time we'll line these babies, and be well on our way to...you know...rescuing distressed citizens. 

See you then!

~Erin~

capes for super superheroes::day 1

Hello, again, friends!  Is everybody ready to play dress-up?  I figure, since it's been a little while since we sewed together, we'll start in nice and easy with some simple capes.  They'll be pretty straightforward, just a lined, reversible deal, but they'll give us a chance to explore some things, like shaped hems and applique, that maybe we haven't considered before.  

First, some housekeeping.  

The basic pants patterns have been revised (and repriced) and are available on the patterns page now.   

As with the bodice patterns, three sizes are now available in one file.  Those of you who have already bought pants patterns will be receiving the updated pattern within the next little bit.      

Now, in order to explain why we're doing capes, I ought to give you a little background story.  My children love to dress up as superheroes.  The most vital piece of clothing for a superhero is, of course, a cape.  They have not, heretofore, had any actual capes devoted solely to dressing up, and I've spent a whole lot of time trying to double-knot baby blankets around their little necks.  Receiving blanket capes are one thing, but when they bring me one of those quilts with chubby batting inside and insist that this is the cape they want, I am flummoxed. 

I am tired of tying (and untying) and re-tying blankets. Thus, we make capes. 

The fabric of choice for my capes is lightweight polyester satin, since it's inexpensive, shiny, and light enough to "blow in the wind".  (A definite requirement for capes.)  I have two little boys who need superhero capes, and these are the colors I chose for them:

I'll use red for the cape and blue for the lining on one of them, and do it the other way around for the other.  Tidy.  But my daughter was standing in the fabric store with me, and I turned to her to ask her what colors she wanted her cape to be. 

Here's what she chose:

I'm sure there's an interesting psychological study in here somewhere.  Lavender and flame. Hm.  

What I'm using for each of these capes is 1 yard of fabric, cut in half lengthwise.  So I bought two yards of fabric for two capes, one color for the cape and one for the lining.  If you could do without a different color for the lining, you could get away with buying one yard of fabric for this project.  But, happy day! I have extra fabric, just for you!

So here's the giveaway part.  I have two "cape kits".  Each contains two 36"x22" pieces of lightweight polyester satin, in red and blue.  Over the next several days, as we work on the capes, all you need to do to enter the drawing is make a comment on what's going on.  Then, at the end, I'll draw two names randomly from all the comments received, and the makings for two capes will be on their way to two more superheroes.  Let me know, of course, if you'd prefer a cape kit in lavender and flame. 

Now to the good part.  I must admit that this idea is not original to me.  (Not many ideas are.)  I saw a reversible cape at a friend's house, and looked them up online.  Sure enough, someone has instructions for making them, and the capes are so very adorable.

But I got ready to do it, just as she says, and found that she'd just laid out her fabric and drawn the shape of the cape on it.  Just like that.  Confident that I could do the same thing, I laid out my fabric, raised my chalk, and ran crying back to my basic block patterns.  I am a lowly mortal, and must needs use crutches when I can.  I bow to superior skill. 

So what we're going to start with is the basic bodice pattern, taped together at the shoulder.  We know that at the center front we'll need to overlap a little, so we'll add just a little chunk of paper right there to support the overlap. 

Then, as you see, we'll fool around sketching the cape front until we get it looking right. 

Cutting that out gives us this.  (Remember to add seam allowance!)  Of course, the back of the cape doesn't look like we want it to, but we have the front, and I do think we can tackle drawing the back of the cape straight on the fabric. 

So we'll just lay our cape center back on the fold of the fabric, and place a ruler alongside.  Then we'll fool around with the shape of the cape until we get it looking like we want it.  Just don't fool around with scissors yet. 

When we get to the bottom, we're going to do upside-down scallops (think Batman cape) all across the hem.  To do this, we'll divide the width of the cape into even increments, cut a circle with the diameter that we want, and use it as a template for our scallops.  We'll need to leave two seam allowance widths between our scallops so that we can sew the points. 

Now let's pin it on the dress form to see if we like what we've got, shall we?

Very nice!

Now we'll use the blue, upside down scallops cape as a pattern for its red lining. 

And now we'll use those as a pattern for our next cape, only, we're going to do this cape with a zigzag hem.  We'll do the same thing that we did with the previous hem, only this time we're using a right triangle instead of a square.

And now, once more, in the purple and flame fabrics, only this time we're doing the scallops the traditional way, pointing downward.

With our capes cut out and ready to go we're ready to come up with some fun emblems for the center back applique.  Which thing we'll do next time we meet. 

Until then, then!

~Erin~

let's play dress-up!

Hello again, everyone!  I have moved, have unzipped my sewing machine and set up a little sewing spot for myself, have been to the fabric store (oh, what balm for a jaded, tired soul!) and am back here again ready to play with all of you again.

Just look at the beauties I picked up:

Oh, yes, it's dress-up time.  Starting tomorrow, we're going to take my little stack of wildly-colored fabric and turn it into fixings for a dress-up box extrordinaire.  I will, as usual, be giving away a good portion of it, so you'll want to hang around if you have little folk with fantasy-figure aspirations and an itchy needle-finger.  (That's akin to an itchy trigger finger, only with less potential for violence.)

What I'd like to hear from you is your suggestions for stocking the best dress-up box ever.  I have three superhero capes and a princess dress in that stack of fabric up there, but what else do you think will help little imaginations blossom? 

Let's play dress-up!  See you tomorrow!

~Erin~

glitch, fixed

While I was out gallivanting across the country, it seems that the bodice pattern ordering system developed a glitch.  The sheer audacity of the things that go on behind my back astounds me.  I have sicked my tech crew on it, and it's up and running again.  I apologize for any inconvenience and/or loss of creative momentum you may have experienced. 

~E~