Perfect for fickle kids

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By The Associated Press | Saturday, October 11, 2008 | No comments posted.
As the mother of a toddler who rockets from obsession to obsession-- goodbye astronauts, hello King Arthur! -- I can appreciate adress-up costume that pulls double duty.

But why stop there, when a bit more effort yields a reversible capeable to transform him into at least four different personas? Here'sa project with the potential to head off last-minute panic over aHalloween-morning change of heart and to spur imaginative play wellbeyond the holiday.

You can get as fancy as you want with the details, but the basicdesign calls for a two-sided cape with a button-on hood andembellishments that can be tailored to your child's interests. Trya superhero-king-pirate-monster combination for adventure seekersor a superhero-Red Riding Hood-princess-butterfly version forfairytale fans.

The instructions below will make a cape about 18 inches long thatfits a 4-year-old, but they can be easily altered for a biggerchild by using more fabric.

Four-in-one cape

Materials:

1 yard red satin, or color of your choice

1 yard black satin, or color of your choice

scrap of white faux fur, cut into 2 strips, 2 inches by 17 inches

9- by 12-inch sheets of craft felt in assorted colors

fusible webbing

2-inch piece of hook-and-loop fastener

8 buttons

for butterfly: 1 yard green ribbon, 3 additional buttons

sewing machine capable of making button holes

general sewing supplies: thread, scissors, pencil, string, ruler

THE CAPE:

1) Fold red satin selvedge edge to selvedge edge. Do the same withthe black fabric, stack them on top of each other and lay them infront of you with the fold running vertically and on the left.

2) Measure and mark three points 2-1/2 inches down from the topedge: A) on the fold, B) 2-1/2 inches in from the fold, C) 5 inchesin from the fold. Draw a line from the top edge of the fabric topoint B. Parallel to the line you just drew, draw another line fromthe top edge of the fabric to point C. Draw a third line,perpendicular to the other lines, from point C to the right-handedge of the fabric.

3) Tie a length of string to a pen or pencil and cut it to a lengthequal to the width of your folded fabric.

4) Hold or tape the end of the string at point A. Stretch thestring taut and draw an arc radiating from that point. Repeat, thistime shortening the string to 2-1/2 inches.

5) Pin the fabric together and cut along the marked lines.Unfolded, the fabric will resemble a large half-circle with asmaller half-circle cut out of the middle and two tabs which willform neck of the cape.

6) Make the neck closure by sewing one piece of the hook-and-loopstrip to the shiny side of one of the red neck tabs, about 3/4inches in from the edge. Sew the other piece to the black tab onthe opposite side.

7) Pin the red satin on top of the black, right sides together. Sewaround the entire cape, using a 1/2-inch seam allowance, leaving anopening along the bottom for turning.

8) Turn the cape right side out and slipstitch the opening. Stophere for an unadorned cape.

9) Make six button holes through both layers of the cape: one ateach edge of the neck, one in the middle of the neckline, one ateach corner of the cape and one in the center back of the cape.Hook-and-loop tape or snaps also could be used instead.

THE HOOD:

1) Create a pattern on newspaper. Start with a rectangle roughly 12inches tall and 10 inches wide. Starting at the upper left corner,draw a rounded shape that connects to the lower right corner.

2) With fabric folded right sides together, cut two hood pieces outof black satin and two out of red satin.

3) For a monster hood, cut triangles out of felt by cutting three3-inch squares in half diagonally. Baste five of them to the shinyside of one black hood piece, lining up one side of each trianglewith the curved edge of the satin.

4) With right sides of black hood pieces together, sew along thecurved side of the hood. Do the same for the red hood pieces.

5) With right sides together, sew the black and red hoods togetheralong the face opening and neck, leaving an opening for turning.

6) Turn right side out and slipstitch the opening.

7) Attach three buttons to the bottom inside edge of the red hood,using the buttonholes on the cape as a placement guide.

THE EMBELLISHMENTS:

1) Use clip art or your own drawings to design emblems for the backof the cape, including a background layer slightly larger than theimage that matches the color of the cape. For example, for a piratecape, draw white skull-and-crossbones atop a black outline.

2) Following the instructions on the fusible web, adhere layers ofthe craft felt together to make the design. Or, skip this step andthe next one and simply glue the felt pieces together.

3) Hand or machine stitch around the edge of the layers. Since feltwon't fray, it's not necessary to cover the edge, but a satinstitch gives a more professional look.

4) Attach a button to the back of the emblem.

5) For a king or queen embellishment, attach buttons to the back ofthe faux fur strips, using the buttonholes at the neckline andcorners of the cape as a placement guide.

6) For a butterfly, cut two pieces of ribbon 10 inches long. Sewtwo short ends of each ribbon to each other, creating a loop, andattach a button near the seam. Repeat for other ribbon. These loopscan then be buttoned onto the corners of the cape and to make wriststraps that allow the child to "flap its wings."

Cut another piece of ribbon approximately 12 inches long and againsew the short ends together. Attach a button near the seam. Thisloop can be slipped over one side of the cape and buttoned to thecenter neckline buttonhole. Arrange the ribbon so that it gathersup the back of the cape in the center back, creating two "wings"that drape down on either side.