Halloween is approaching and it occurred to me I could actually make Halloween costumes early! What a concept huh?  No crazy runarounds trying to find parts, fabric, and details or especially late nights of sewing, gluing and painting until 2am.

With so many inspiring books at my fingertips (an advantage to working here at C&T Publishing) I quickly found the perfect guide to get the job done.  Super-Simple Creative Costumes by Sue Astroth is full of costumes for all occasions (not just Halloween).  The “super hero” will be perfect for my son Jack and a slightly altered version for my daughter (always keeping up with bro).  Sooooo here comes the Super Sibling Heroes!

So there you have it, a calm and restful Halloween to come with costumes made well ahead of time.

Read on for the Super Hero Costume project…

Super Hero costume

Materials:

Cape

• 1 yard satin fabric
• 1/8 yard of black fabric (cotton or satin) for cape tie
• Matching thread

Wristband & belt buckle

• 2 qty 1 1/2″ x 9″ (wrist length around plus 1″) lightweight Fast2fuse
• 4 qty 3″x 4″ lightweight fast2fuse (buckle base, lighting bolts)
• 1/8 yd fabric – star theme
• Thread to match
• 1/8 yd yellow fabric (lighting bolts)
• Thread to match
• Velcro
• 1 pin back
• Glue gun

Instructions:

Cape:

1. Trim off the selvages from the back satin.  Make a ½” hem along each edge. (fold twice so the raw edges won’t show)
2. With your sewing machine set to a long straight stitch, sew 2 rows of gathering stitches along the top edge, one ¼” from the edge and the other 5/8” from the edge.  Pull the threads to gather the fabric, creating pleats and fullness in the cape.
3. To create the collar and tie closure, cut 1 strip 3” wide x 44”.  Press a ¼” hem on each end.  Press the lengthwise edges to the center, then fold the strip in half and press, enclosing the raw edges. Sandwich the gathered end of the cape into the center of the pressed strip.  Pin in place then straight stitch the full length of the strip,

Wristbands & Buckle

1. Cut 4 pieces of star fabric a little larger than wristband length fast2fuse pieces.
2. Iron on to both sides then trim around all edges.
3. Using matching thread satin stitch around all edges.
4. Sew Velcro to the ends of the watchband
5. Cut star fabric a little larger than a 3″ x 4″ rectangle of fast2fuse
6. Cut into an oval shape.
7. Using matching thread satin stitch around all edges.
8. Iron on yellow fabric to both sides of 3-qty 3″ x 4″ rectangles of fast2fuse.
9. Cut each into lightning bolt shapes.
10. With matching thread satin stitch around all edges
11. Glue gun 2 lightning bolts to the wristbands.
12. The 3^rd bolt should be glue gunned onto star fabric covered oval.  Glue gun to a pin back to create a faux belt buckle

Throw in black sweatpants, a white shirt and SHAZAM the outfit is complete!