Children’s Capetastic

Double-sided Interfacing

If you are using double-sided interfacing, follow the step below. If you are not using double-sided interfacing, skip to step 1.

Trace each of your face pieces onto your double-sided interfacing.

• 2x Eye Colors
• 2x Eye Whites
• 2x Eye Blacks
• 2x Eye Sparkles
• 1x Beak

NOTE – If you are doing different shaped eyes or other face/eye pieces you may have additional or differently shaped pieces to these. 

Cut out each of the eye pieces and iron onto the appropriate colored fabric. Cut around each piece.

Cut around the double-sided interfacing beak piece. Iron onto your beak fabric.

Remove the double-sided interfacing backing paper and iron the beak onto your beak fabric so both beak pieces are stuck together.

Cut around the beak so it is now one double-sided beak piece with the double-sided interfacing in between.

We are going to assemble and top stitch the eyes in place on the head.

Before attaching the eyes, lay them on the head and decide exactly how you want them. In the photos here the eyes are centered off towards the front of the head. This means when the head is assembled the eyes will be pointing down and forwards slightly. You could do it like this, center them normally or any other way you like.

Have a play around moving the eye pieces to get the look you want. When you’re happy, move on to the next step.

NOTE – The eyes are a great place to have an embellishment instead of the pattern piece/s. You could use diamantes, sparkly buttons, eyelashes, some embroidery, fabric paint or even just different shaped eyes! 

With both the head and the eye color piece facing up, pin the eye color on the head as marked (or where you decided in step 1.1).

If you are using double-sided interfacing, iron in place then top stitch.

If you are not using double-sided interfacing, top stitch in place.

NOTE – The eyes are assembled from largest bit to smallest bit. The reason for this is to make sure the eye sparkle doesn’t get pushed around and squashed as you are sewing the other bits. That said, if you are using a particularly thick fabric, and/or additional eye/face decorations, you may find your sewing machine struggles to stitch through so many layers. If this is the case, assemble the eyes from smallest piece to largest, and then onto the head last. 

Place the eye white on top of the eye color repeat step 1.1 to stitch in place.

NOTE – In the photo the eye white and other eye parts are off center but if you prefer you can center it for a different look. To decide which look you want, place all the pieces on and see how they look before stitching/ironing them down.

Place the eye black on top and repeat step 1.1 to stitch in place.

Place the eye sparkle on top and repeat step 1.1 to stitch in place.

TIP – This piece is really small so rather than top stitch around it, alternatively you can just stitch in a straight line through it to attach it.

Top stitch close to the edge (approximately ⅛ inch) around the curved edges of the beak.

Fold the head in half lengthways to find the center point. Mark with a pin.

With the head right side up, center the beak over the pin with the beak facing inwards. Baste in place approximately ⅛ inch from the edge.

NOTE – If you are unfamiliar with basting, it is a loose long temporary stitch used to secure two or more fabrics together. If your sewing machine does not have a specific basting stitch, lengthen your regular stitch so it is as long and loose as possible. It should be within the seam allowance, so it doesn’t show from the outside in the finished cape. 

Make sure you change your sewing machine back to a normal length stitch now so it’s ready for the following steps.

Pin the cape sides to the cape center (right sides together). Stitch using a ¼ inch seam allowance. 

Press seams open.

Trim the seam allowance from the cape sides that are sticking out so it’s a nice clean line in the center of the cape (e.g. cut any seam allowance off that is protruding past the green line in the close-up second photo below).

This helps give a neat finish to the center back of the cape when you attach the hood.

With the right sides together, fold the cape hood in half. Stitch down the center back seam using a ¼ inch seam allowance.

Press the seam open.

TIP – It can be quite difficult to press the seam open up towards the curve at the top of the hood. Use a tailor’s ham or a rolled up towel underneath to give a curved surface to make pressing easier.

Fold the cape in half and mark the center point with a pin. Fold the cape hood in half and mark the neck center point with a pin.

With fabric right side together, pin the cape hood to the cape at the center points.

Pin the rest of the neck of the cape hood to the cape. Stitch using a ¼ inch seam allowance.

Press seam allowance up towards the hood.

Repeat steps 2.1 to 2.4 to assemble the cape lining.

Try the cape on your child now if possible. It should be loose fitting and large enough for them to wrap it round themselves (and pretend to be any number of creatures or characters!) but not so long it gets in the way of them playing. The hood will also be quite loose fitting. 

Make any fitting or preference adjustments to the fit and length now before continuing.

There are two fastenings in this section. Both are optional. For children who like to put a costume on and then just play without it falling off, you will want both. For children who hate being fastened into anything and would rather just hold on to it, you might just want one, or none!

The two options are: 

• Neck Fastening – This is a strip of hook and loop either side of the neck that folds over itself to fasten.
• Elastics – These are a loop of elastic near the end of the wing that the child can put their middle finger or wrist through.

If you are doing neck fastenings, follow the next steps. If you are not, skip to step 3.6.

Fold each neck fastening piece in half lengthwise.

For both pieces, stitch across the long side and one short side to form a tube with one end closed

Cut the corners of the neck fastening seam allowance off (don’t cut all the way to the stitching line or it will fray, just cut the bulk off so it’s easier when we turn it right way out).

Turn through and press.

TIP – Use a point turner or something long and thin like a chopstick to poke the corners out.

Stitch the furry (loop) piece of your hook and loop to one neck fastening and the scratchy (hook) piece of your hook and loop to the other neck fastening.

TIP – Some sewing machines don’t like stitching through hook and loop and will skip stitches. Try a test bit first on a scrap of fabric. Go slowly and use a slightly longer stitch.

With the cape right side up, place the neck fastenings on the cape next to the hood.

Make sure one fastening is facing upwards, and one downwards so that when the cape is completed, they meet together and will do up.

Line up the raw edges and baste on.

TIP – If you place the furry/loop neck fastening up, and the scratchy/hook one down, it means when the cape is on, the scratchy one is out from the neck so it can never accidentally itch sensitive child skin.

If you are doing elastics, follow the next steps. If you are not, skip to step 4.1. 

Fold your elastics in half.

If possible, check your child’s hand fits through the elastic easily. It should be quite comfortable. For older children it should be a little loose so they can get it on and off themselves easily. Adjust if necessary.

Pin one at each end of the straight edge of the cape. They need to be approximately ½ inch in from the end. 

Stitch in place approximately ⅛ inch from the edge. Go back and forward several times over these. They will end up under quite a bit of stress when the cape is being played with, so it pays to stitch over them multiple times to make sure they don’t get pulled out.

We are going to fully assemble the cape now, and then stitch the feathers on last. 

This means that in step 5 you’ll be stitching through both the cape and the lining to attach the feathers. So, you will see the stitching lines on the inside of the cape. This has the benefits that the raw edges all get hidden, and you’ve got the double layer of both the cape and lining giving strength below the weight of all the feathers. 

If you are adapting the pattern to make another creature or another look-cape, and you would prefer not to see all the stitching lines on the inside, you can do step 5 first, then step 4 afterwards. Just make sure not to catch the bottom layer of feathers in the stitching along the bottom of the cape when you join the cape and lining in step 4.2.

If you are doing the pattern as designed, carry on with doing all the steps in the correct order.

If you did the neck fastening and/or elastics, pin them down into the center of the cape. This is to keep them out of the way during the next step.

Pin the cape and cape lining right sides together.

Stitch around the cape approximately ¼ inch from the edge, leaving a 3-inch-wide opening at the bottom center back so you can turn it through in the next step.

Trim the seam allowance so it is nice and neat.

Cut the corners off (don’t cut all the way to the stitching line or it will fray, just cut the bulk off so it’s easier when we turn it right way out).

Clip into the corner where the hood and cape meet. 

TIP – This corner can be quite bulky and it’s easy to apply extra force to get the scissors through, then accidentally cut through the stitching into the cape! Don’t do this. Make small little snips in, through one layer at a time until you’ve gotten right into the corner. Use only the very tip of the scissors for maximum control.

Turn the cape right way out through the hole you left. 

If you did fastenings, unpin these now.

Use a chopstick or point turner to make sure the edges are fully turned out.

If when you turn the cape through, the corner where the hood and cape meet doesn’t want to sit flat, then turn it back inside out. Then make 2-3 more clips next to the corner. Some fabrics will need multiple clips rather than just one into the corner.

Once you are happy with how it is turned through, press and topstitch approximately ⅛ inch from the edge all the way around the cape. If you did fastenings, make sure to keep them out of the way.

TIP – If you used a different color fabric for your hood, you might want to change thread color so it’s less visible when you get to that bit. Or you could use a contrasting thread, again it’s up to you and your imagination!

Your basic cape is now complete! You can leave it as it is, continue on to Part B to add feathers, or skip ahead to Part C and add any other variation or option you can think of! Have fun.

Now you’ve got your basic cape, it’s time to decorate! Instructions below are for the feathered version. For other inspiration and ideas, skip ahead and look at the variations section.

We are going to mark where the lines of feathers will run so you can easily and evenly pin them on later.

I used a tailor’s chalk pencil. You can also use regular tailors chalk or a disappearing fabric pen. The idea is to use something that will rub off or vanish later so you can’t see the marks you are making. If you don’t have any of these, you could also make the lines using lots and lots of pins!

To start your markings, lay a ruler down the center back of the cape and mark every 2 inches from the hood down to the hem.

Keeping the tip of your ruler at the center of the hood, move it out and around the cape and mark every 2 inches.

Then connect the markings to make semi circles every 2 inches from the hem to the hood.

If you have used all one color of feathers, skip to step 5.4.

If you have used multiple different feather colors, you need to decide what order you are going to attach them in. You can put them on randomly, or you can follow an order.

Once you have decided, line them up all ready as you would like them. 

We are now going to attach the feathers. They are going to overlap the edges of the cape and each other so that there are no spaces showing the fabric of the cape underneath when it’s finished.

Pin the first feather on the very bottom left of the cape. It should be approximately ¼ to ½ inch from the bottom of the cape. It should overlap the side edge by approximately ½ inch as well.

NOTE – The reason we start on the bottom left is so that you can stitch from the right side of the cape along to the left side going ‘down’ the feathers. That way they don’t fold over when stitching and will stay nice and flat.

TIP – To make it easy to remove the pins as you sew later, place them the OPPOSITE WAY to in the photo… with the pinhead on the left and the point on the right. I got this wrong when I did the tutorial and found out the hard way all my pins were facing towards me as I sewed!! Much easier to remove them if they are facing away from you as you sew.

TIP – A quicker method is to use basting spray if you have it. To do this, spray a strip, lay all your feathers from that strip down, and then pin them all at once.

Place your second feather on the cape. Overlap it by approximately 1 inch. 

Only place 1 pin in the left side of it. The right side will have another feather overlapping it in a moment.

Continue to place feathers overlapping next to each other all the way along the bottom row.

The last feather in the row also needs to overlap the side edge of the cape by approximately ½ inch. You may need to wriggle the last few feathers to overlap each other more or less to get this last feather overlapping the side edge nicely.

Next, we are going to pin the remaining rows of feathers on, then we will stitch them at the end. The reason we do it this way is that if you are using multiple different colors of feathers, it allows you to review the look of the cape, and move any colors around to get it just how you want, before stitching. It also means if you overlap your feathers too much and run out, you can either rearrange them or cut extras out and insert them before stitching.

Continue arranging, pinning, and overlapping the second row of feathers. The top of the feather should be approximately on top of the line you’ve drawn. As the feather curves and the different lines have different levels of curve, you may need to overlap the line slightly (approximately ¼ inch).

NOTE – Keep overlapping the side edge for the first and last feathers even when you get to the hood. We will trim the feathers off the edge later.

Continue to arrange, pin, and overlap each row of feathers. 

When you pin the last layer of feathers on, you will find the feather doesn’t curve enough to follow the line. Overlap these ones as per the photo on the left so that you can’t see any white space, or the top of the feather in the row below.

Once you’ve pinned the last row, you’ll be left with a little hole in the top center. Don’t worry about this, we will deal with it later.

Starting with the bottom row along the hem, stitch the feathers on row by row.

You will need to fold the feathers from the rows above up out of the way in order to sew.

TIPS

• Go slowly. There’s lots of pins and it’s easy to stick yourself by accident!
• Test your stitch on two layers of feather and your cape fabric. If you have used felt or a heavy fabric you may want to lengthen your stitches.
• See page 11 for tips on sewing with felt or heavy/specialty fabrics.
• Sew from the right side of the cape as you look at it, down towards the left side. That way you’ll be sewing ‘down’ the feathers.
• It’s easy to ‘drift’ your stitching line out into the middle of the feather when you are sewing this many on. Keep your stitches close to the edge so that the stitching is hidden by the next row of feathers once you’ve folded them back down.
• As you stitch the lines closest to the hood, you’ll find you can’t stitch all the way across the top of each feather as they curve around. Just stitch as far along each one as you can. If there isn’t enough caught by the stitching as you would like, you can either hand stitch or do extra rows of stitching to hold them down.

Turn the cape over so you can see the feathers that stick out over the side edge.

Very carefully trim these off. Take care not to catch the cape itself.

Turn the cape over and continue to trim along the line between the cape and the hood.

We now need to fill the hole at the top center of the cape.

Pin some feathers so they cover the hole.  Make sure the top of the feathers completely hangs over the edge of the cape with the hood.

Once you’re happy with how the feathers sit, carefully trim them along the line between the cape and the hood.

Pin down all the feathers along the side edge. Then stitch approximately ⅛ inch from the side edge all the way from one side of the cape to the other.

There are endless ways you can customize this cape. 

Here are a few variations, mods, options, and inspirations….

To make removable antennae for your cape, you’ll need 2 pipe cleaners, some Velcro (hook and eye), two polystyrene balls and some glue or a hot glue gun.

NOTE – These antennae are removable for washing. If you weren’t planning to wash your cape, you could permanently attach them instead.

Place your two pipe cleaners end-to-end on top of the loop part of your Velcro (the furry feeling bit).

Carefully stitch down either side of the metal part of the pipe cleaners so that they are now firmly attached to the Velcro.

TIP – Use a beading (or similar) foot on your sewing machine so that the pipe cleaners can easily go through the gap under the foot. Position your foot centrally over the pipe cleaners and move the needle to the side so that it is just to the right side of the metal part of the pipe cleaner. Repeat to stitch down the left side too.

Poke each end of your antennae into a ball. Use glue or a hot glue gun to secure.

Then stitch the other side of the piece of Velcro (the hook/scratchy side) to the hood of your cape where you want the antennae positioned. Velcro on and you’re done.

Once the basic cape is complete, you can add any applique to either the main cape and/or the hood to personalize it.

To do this, lay the cape flat and lay your applique design on top. Then either use a machine stitch or hand stitch the design on.

To give the cape ridges like a bat, stitch strips of medium weight batting (e.g. the fabric you find on the inside of a quilt) to the wrong side of the lining before you join the lining and main fabric. Then stitch the lining & fabric right sides together as you would normally, turn and press. Pin down either side of each strip and use a zipper foot to stitch close to either side of the batting where you pinned it, so it is defined. Leave off the feathers to really show off your ridges.

Cut any face design you like and stitch to the hood before you assemble it. If you use a fabric that frays, either hand or machine stitch using an applique stitch. If you are using a fabric that doesn’t fray such as felt, you can stitch it straight on as you did the eyes.

Mouth, nose or even face markings can all be added.

For a rounded ear (like a mouse ear) cut 2x feathers pattern piece as the outer part of each ear, and 1x eye color pattern piece as the center of each ear.

Stitch the center of each ear to one of the outers. Make a dart to halfway up the inner ear. Then stitch the other outer ear to the back of this. This covers the dart stitching and provides extra stability & 3D shape. 

The ears can either be inserted into the hood as below, or stitch directly on.

Alternatively, cut your own ear shape.

To make them stand up, either fill with stuffing, or pleat as with the mouse ears above.

To attach, either just stitch where you want onto the hood.

Or cut the hood into two sections. Baste your ears (and any other spikes, spines, or decoration!).

Then stitch the two sections of the hood together and continue as normal.

Alternatively, rather than cutting the hood fully in two, you can just cut a slit and insert the ears in the same way.

Two flat eyebrows – Cut 1x strip of felt for each eyebrow. Position where you want them. Stitch in place.

One 3D eyebrow – Cut 1x strip of felt in the shape of the eyebrows you want. Trace the end 1/3 of each end and cut a piece of felt to match. Stitch these to either end of the eyebrow. Stuff gently with stuffing. Stitch the central part off the eyebrow to the head, meeting up with the stitching you did on the ends. The middle part of the eyebrow will be one layer, flat and attached to the head. Each end of the eyebrow will be two layers with stuffing inside and 3D loose from the head.

To create eyelashes, either freehand draw/cut shapes to go under your eye white as in the first photo. These can either then be stitched down as you would with the eye, or just catch the edge when you stitch down the eye white and leave the lash part loose, so it moves and is 3D.

Alternatively, cut the ‘eye color’ piece in white, and then cut the ‘eye white’ piece in black and draw eyelashes off to the sides. Again, you could stitch the whole lash section down, or just stitch around in a circle as you would have if you hadn’t put lashes on. This will secure it all but leave the lash part loose and 3D.

Use the eye pattern pieces provided as a guide for how large you want the eyes to be (feel free to go larger or smaller though!). Cut the eye shape you want.

Cut and assemble the eyes as normal.

You can cut your eyes any shape you like! Dragon, bat, mouse, cat…. Use google images for inspiration then cut the shape/s you want from paper or card to create a template. 

Trace and cut one from your fabric, then flip your template over to cut the other so they are mirror images.

Using different fabrics can be effective. Try fur, suede, prints or even a sheer fabric for something really different.

Cut or use any decorations to make your feathers pop. Here two different sized ovals have been stitched to every second feather, on every second row to create a peacock-feather effect.

ONE COLOR: Using feathers of all one color will give another different look.

ROWS: Use the same color of feather on each row for stripes.

OMBRE: Place rows of feathers from light to dark (or vice versa) for an ombre look.

PATTERNS: As you place your feathers, group them by color to create patterns such as the spots on this ladybird.

Head/Smaller feathers – Print the page with the feather piece on it only at 25 to 50% scale. Have a play around with the exact scale you’d like. These head feathers are approximately 25% of the original size. Then cut and piece the feathers onto the hood (or wherever you’d like them) as normal.

You could also scale the feather piece up to make a larger feather (try using 150-300% scale).

Using the same tutorial but changing the shape of the feathers can also change the look. 

Take your feather pattern piece and draw new lines on or around it to get the shape you want. Then continue with the tutorial as normal.

Cut 2x fin shapes from your fabric. Interface both using a medium or heavy weight interfacing. Stitch right sides together. Trim & clip the seam allowance. Turn right sides out, press and topstitch.

Cut the cape outer down the fold line. Sandwich the fin in the cut. Stitch down the fold line to secure the fin in place. Continue as normal to attach the hood and lining.

Cut 2x headpiece any size you wish from felt. Use double sided interfacing and top stitch to join the head pieces together as per the beak instructions in the basic cape tutorial.

Decorate with feathers or anything you like.

Stitch to the hood to secure.

Cut triangle of fabric on fold and approximately 1m of chosen ribbon/rope.

Sandwich ribbon inside triangle so that the short end comes out the top of the horn, and the long end comes out the bottom. 

Sew upside of triangle from point to side, leaving the bottom area open.

Stuff horn with poly fill.

Your ribbon will be hanging loose out the top of your horn. Wrap ribbon around horn and position as desired. If needed, secure with glue or a small hand stitch in places to keep it secure.

Sandwich in the top of the head (as in the ‘mane’ modification further down the page) when you stitch the hood together.

Draw a knight face piece on paper to use as a template. Cut 2x pieces from fabric, stitch right sides together leaving a 1.5inch gap to turn. Trim seam, clip corners, turn and press. Top stitch. Decorate with strips of felt or embroider to make the grill. Stitch on to the hood at either end and cover stitching with a button. Or alternatively stitch buttonholes on the face piece and buttons on the hood to make it removable.

Add lace or any other trim to decorate.

Extend the cape to be as long as you want, either by using one of the cape pieces from a larger size (keeping the same hood), or by adding trim to the bottom of the cape.

Wrap yarn around an object several times. For this example, wrap around a small tin and wrap it around approximately 15 times. 

Tie at the end and then wrap around the width of the yarn and tie (similar to how you would create a pom pom). 

Cut your hood in half down the fold line.

Secure yarn bundles down the split in the hood, sandwiched between the two layers. 

Repeat and arrange until satisfied with placement and thickness

Sew upside of hood ensuring you catch all of the yarn bundles. Use a short tight stitch.

Omit the feather entirely and use a contrasting lining for a different look.

Leave off the hood and complete as normal, with or without the feathers, and with or without the lining.

Use the top of the hood as a template to cut a nose piece. 

Reshape the hood center front to be pointier if you want a pointy nose. 

Cut and apply the nose as per the basic cape instructions for the eyes.

Trace the eye shape you want onto a plain fabric. Decorate using fabric pens or paint. Then cut around and stitch on as normal.

Complete the basic cape but decorate both the hood and the hood lining to make it reversible.

Add ruffles around the hood and or the cape.

To do this, cut your ruffle the length and width you desire. Turn both the short ends and one long end under twice and top stitch.

Either gather stitch, gather, and pin to the hood or cape. Or use a ruffle foot attachment.

Trim or serge, press and topstitch the seam to finish.

Cut contrasting shapes to represent scales, pin and stitch or glue in place.

Shaping the hem of the cape can change the look quite significantly.

The blue one is scalloped so it is fan-shaped like a butterfly or moth. The black one has a convex scallop to give the shape of a bat.

This one is slightly shaped around each edge and a little out of the middle to give a butterfly shape.

You could do this freehand on the pattern piece before cutting out. Or as per these photos, cut the cape out normally, then draw the shape on with tailors chalk or a fabric pen while the cape is inside out. Then stitch, trim, clip, turn, press, and top stitch.

When cutting the cape main section, do not cut on the fold, instead add a seam allowance, and cut two halves. 

Cut two strips of fabric in your chosen spike material the same length of the center of the main cape piece and the height you desire the spikes to be plus at least adequate seam allowance.

Cut two pieces of iron on medium interfacing just smaller than your strips cut in step 2 and iron on.

Determine the desired size and shape of spikes by cutting one as a template in card/paper.

Draw these spikes on one piece of the interfacing along the length and then cut out, allowing room for seam allowance.

Pin the two pieces together and stitch.

Trim around the spikes and seam allowance. 

Turn and ensure you push the points out thoroughly. 

Sandwich in between the two sides of the cape and sew together.

Continue to assemble your cape as normal.

Alternatively, for more spaced out spikes, cut each one individually and then sandwich in the seam as above.

For 3D spikes, fill with polyfill and use a zipper foot to close them before sandwiching them in the seam.

If doing feathers and spikes, continue to decorate as normal when you get to this stage. However, when you get close to the spikes, you’ll need to cut some feathers in half or part in order to get them right up close to the spikes. Also make sure to top stitch the feathers down in a line next to the spikes so they hide the lining underneath.

To make a tail, cut two matching pieces of fabric in the shape you want, stitch together, turn through, stuff lightly then stitch to the hem of the cape.

For a tail with hair/fur coming out the sides, sandwich a strip of fabric down the seam before stitching. Snip into the fabric to make little strips. Alternatively, use any trim you like.

You can create any size or shape tail you want!

Lengthen the feather pattern as in the feather shapes modification above.

In this child’s cape the longer blue one is 14 ½ inches long, and the medium black one is 10 ¼ inches long.

Then place the feathers from the middle outwards (rather than in a line all in one direction as per the main feather instructions).

Continue to place other normal-sized feathers, keeping your tail feathers central.

Make your feathers pointier to give a different tail feather effect.

Cut a strip of white felt approximately 1 ½ inches wide. Cut triangles approximately 1 ¼ inches into the strip. Sandwich the strip between the hood and hood lining when you assemble them. Use a ½ inch seam allowance when stitching around the hood. This will catch the teeth strip, leave a small gap between each tooth when you turn it through and make sure the remainder of the strip can’t be seen. Turn through, press, and topstitch as usual.

To add whiskers, hand or machine embroider them on where you want them.

Cut 2 strips of fabric approximately 1.5 times the length of elastic you are using for each wrist strap, and 1 inch wide for the covers. Fold each cover lengthways, right side together and stitch down the long side. Turn through. Feed the elastic through each cover and secure the ends all together. The cover should now be gathered and the elastic inside, and the whole thing should be in a teardrop type shape that you can then baste on to the cape as you would without the cover.