Homemade Christmas Part II - Capes

A few weeks back we had my niece and nephew come over during the day while they were staying with Kyle's parents. I noticed how much they really liked the PBS kids show Super Why - Teancum sang the entire theme song by himself, well before the show even started. Good thing we have Teancum and Marina's family for the gift exchange because I got the genius idea to make them their own CAPES so they can be Super Readers too!

Originally I had bought a yard of flannel for each kid plus Maddy with the intention of making the traditional Christmas Eve pajama pants. But then I decided that would entail a lot more work than I have time or energy to do...finding out the right size, cutting out all the pattern pieces, worrying about the elastic waistband being too big or too small. As I was searching through craft blogs I came across a few capes people had made and were then selling. FOR OVER $20! Yeah, they were neat looking and all, but I could make it for so much cheaper!

So, I did it. In the last 2 days I pumped out 3 capes, with my own design. I didnt really use a pattern even. Just eyeballed it, which is probably why Marina's isnt as good as I'd like - that and the fabric I used was too stretchy!

This is for Teancum. The flannel is green with police cars and fire trucks in orange, blue, yellow and white. I used navy blue brushed-something from my mom (leftover from a costume years ago.) This was the second one I made, and I like this shape better than the first. Oh, the neck tie is out of the flannel and has velcro sewed on.

This is Marina's. I wish I had time and energy and supplies to make a better one for her. The light pink is a terrycloth thing, also from my mom's huge supply, and it was way stretchier than I anticipated. Even though I pinned things on very carefully it still shifted so the letter is not centered and things are just a wee bit off. I keep reminding myself a 3 year old isnt going to care, but still. Oh, and the flannel is light pink piggies with a light green background. Super cute.

This one is probably my favorite, despite its flaws. It was the first I made, and I did more of a triangular shape rather than the teardrops I did for the others. I prefer the teardrop; I'm hoping to tuck the corners in to make them rounded like you see the corner on the right, but a little smoother. Also its narrower at the top; I think I like it wider. But I love the strawberry flannel and the hot pink cotton...cotton is MUCH easier to sew than those other stretchy fabrics!

And here's Maddy with another one of her Christmas presents. This is the 3rd doll I've tried making, and the first two were pretty sad looking - its hard to get the arms and legs sewed on just right! This one turned out much better, but she took off with it before I could sew her head shut, if you look close you can see the batting sticking out a bit at the top. She's been carrying it around everywhere, which is nice that she actually likes something I've made her. Now I have to figure out how to make it disappear and wrapper without her realizing its gone!