Capes for Kids

The Cutest Cut and Sew Costume Addition

Want an inexpensive Halloween costume for youngsters? If you can sew a straight line, you can make capes for kids—a creative addition to any costume! Whether your little one chooses to dress as Dracula or Little Bo Peep, adding a homemade cape is a cost effective trick and a super cute treat. Children's capes are perfect for super heroes like Superman, Batman, or Cat Woman; or for storybook favorites like Little Red Riding Hood, Snow White, Robin Hood or Peter Pan. The addition of a cape to any costume also keeps youngsters warm in during cool October days and nights. Capes may be any length and one size fits all. Just make sure that longer garments don’t present a tripping hazard for tiny ghosts and goblins that haunt the night.

Here’s How to Make a Cape for Your Trick or Treater:

  1. Start by measuring your child from the base of his neck to the wrist. Take that measurement and multiply it by two. The final measurement will give you the amount of fabric in linear inches needed to make a cape cut from 45-inch wide material. Note: You should be able to make a cape from one yard of 45-inch wide fabric.
  1. Next, assemble a cutting board, fabric, a pair of scissors, a pencil or marker, a plastic push pin , an 18-inch piece of yarn the same color as the cape fabric, and a piece of string two inches longer than the measurement taken earlier (base of the neck to the wrist).
  1. Place the fabric on your cutting board aligning with a straight edge. Fold your fabric in half lengthwise and again in half of the width. You should have a neat square or rectangle with four layers of fabric. With selvage ends together, smooth the fabric to remove wrinkles. 
  1. Insert the pushpin into your cutting board at the tip of the folded edge of fabric. Tie one end of the string to the pushpin and the other end to the pencil or fine marker. Stretching the string taught, draw a single line in a circular motion from the top right hand corner of the folded fabric to the bottom left hand corner. This is your cutting line. With the string still attached, roll the string around the pencil until its length is draw another semicircle three inches from the top of the folded fabric; again, making a circular motion from the top right corner to the left hand fold. This is the cutting line for your child’s neck. Note: you can make a 2.5 inch opening for a smaller child.
  1. 5.Unfold the cape and make a vertical cut along the center fold from the neckline to the bottom edge. To finish the garment use your sewing machine to stitch a single stitch 5/8 inches along all unfinished edges including the neckline and circumference of the cape. Then press along the fold, turning it inside the garment. Make a double stitch ¼ inch from along the edge of the cape. Cut the piece of yarn into two pieces and hand stitch the yarn tie to secure the cape around your child’s neck. The cape can be embellished with rickrack, sequins, feathers, or ruffles for a touch of glamour or whimsy.