Do you ever feel like the craze of getting Christmas gifts sometimes gets the best of you? One friend decided to take a step back from all the traditional gift buying and made something with her own two hands instead but without going overboard on the project. What turned out was fun, challenging and very memorable.


Christmas was just a week away. I could see the streets get decorated, sales start at all stores, and markets fill up with life. People were chattering about their plans for the long weekend. Some decided to go to nearby cities for the weekend, to relieve the stress and have a family reunion, some decided to stay at home and throw a subtle gathering with friends and neighbors joined together for a pleasant evening.

I grabbed my keys and headed home, taking the long route today. I saw children pouring over their notes about what they wanted for Christmas this year and it suddenly occurred to me to do something special for my 5-year-old son. It had been a while since we celebrated Christmas properly. He had a themed party at one of his friend’s place.

I rushed home and began searching for costumes online. All the good costumes of famous characters were out of stock, and some were out of size. Perplexed at what to do, I started watching videos on how to make costumes at home. I had limited material available at home and a week’s time.

I decided on making a customized cape for my son.

I took out a printout of a picture of Batman’s cape and started working on it immediately. I was vigorously looking for any fabric which would suit the cape. I had limited silk, which I decided to use only for the surface. After hours of searching I found a couple of cotton tea towels in my kitchen drawer. They were a packet of 8 brand-new linen/silk fabrics. I sat down and wrote the requirements.

Requirements:

  1. A pair of scissors
  2. Linin fabric/towels
  3. Silk or satin
  4. Thread colored or white
  5. Paint
  6. Markers
  7. Sewing machine
  8. Elastic bands
  9. A Batman t-shirt
  10. Measuring tape

As I assembled my things I started working on the cape. I read instructions over the internet, and a little personal touch as well. It took me quite some time to organize myself and start working on the cape. It was the first time I was pulling off something like this, that too independently at home.

I followed the following steps in order to complete my cape;

Procedure:

  1. The most important step is selecting the fabric for the cape. The inner and outer parts of the cape have different fabrics. The outer and the main part of the cape is made from an attractive material usually silk or satin. The inner portion is made with a softer and lighter fabric which will neither be static nor will it be uncomfortable for children to wear. I chose the linen towels for the interior and a black silk sheet for the outer portion.
  2. The most important part is stitching a cape with proper measurements. It is essential to note down the shoulder and arm measurements before staring. Since this was a surprise for my son I decided to measure one of his t-shirts. I took a measuring tape and noted down the lengths of each.
  3. After noting down the shoulder measurements, the neck circumference needs to be measured to stitch in the button or make an elastic band around the neck. I closed the collar button of the t-shirt of my son and measured the neck circumference off it.
  4. The next step was the most difficult one. Making a normal cape isn’t as difficult as making a customized one. I began by stitching the small linen fabrics to coincide with the shoulder length I measured.
  5. I then cut the silk sheet in the length and shape of the linen fabric/cape I had stitched and stitched the silk on top of the linen fabric.
  6. I stitched two buttons and their corresponding slits around the neck.
  7. I then cut two ear-like protrusions and stitched them on the top-most corners of the cape to give it a Batman The interior of each protrusion was of the linen fabric and the exterior was of the black silk, the silk was completely wrapped around the fabric.
  8. I added a few patterns using yellow paint and markers to make it look more interesting. I made a bat of the center of the cape to enhance the effect.

I gift-wrapped it and placed it near the Christmas tree for a morning surprise for my son. He was ecstatic about receiving it!

The cape made his themed party memorable. It was also a tiring, but memorable experience for me. You can always add new things, or make it look interesting by painting it, using different colors, adding feathers and other ornaments to the cape. It can be gifted, used for parties, and so forth. It is a costume which can even be devised fit people of all ages with the right measurements.