The day after delivering a bib to my granddaughter (made from a repurposed T-shirt) I received a phone call from my daughter. My grandson had taken the bib and was running around the house with it on backwards. It was no longer a bib but transformed into a cape. The phone call was a reminder to me. Do not bring gifts to your grandchildren unless you have something for everyone.
My grandson is 3 years old and he is all about capes. This weekend I made him a cape. To make the cape I returned to my son’s Goodwill bag and found a camouflage T-shirt and thought, now this is the perfect material for a cape. It took me about 20 minutes to transform an ordinary T-shirt into a superhero cape. It cost nothing.
Today I delivered the cape and am happy to report the cape is a success. My grandson was able to dazzle us with his tricks and his beautiful smile. And now, hopefully, the bib can be returned to the dining room.
To turn an ordinary T-shirt into a cape, follow these steps (pictures below):
1. Choose any adult size T-shirt. My T-shirt was an extra large.
2. Place the T-shirt on a cutting mat. Using a straight ruler, cut off the side seam and sleeves on both sides.
3. Open the T-shirt, lying the wrong side down on the cutting mat. Cut a straight horizontal line on the front of the t-shirt 8 inches down from the center of the neck collar.
4. Fold the T-shirt lengthwise, right sides together. Cut a curved angle cut on the T-Shirt front to round off the edges.
5. Make a binding for the unfinished edge of the t-shirt. I cut material from an old black sweatpants in 2 inch width strips. I joined the ends of each strip together with a diagonal seam to make a continuous binding long enough to finish the edge of my cape.
6. Wrong sides together, sew the binding onto the unfinished edge of the t-shirt cape with a 1/2 inch seam allowance.
7. Iron the binding open. Turn the binding, turning under the unfinished edge, to the wrong side of the cape. Pin and sew.