Introduction: Storm From Xmen Cape
What you will need:
Black fabric- I used leftover felt from the capelet I made previously
Gold fabric
Sewing machine
Scissors
Needle & thread
Tape Measure
Pins
Marker or chalk
Step 1: Get Your Fabric
I began with the velvet which I had leftover from the round capelet that I made for Halloween.
I was very excited about this new cape, because the leftover fabric was quite an odd shape, but it matched this design perfectly.
If you are going to measure the half circles yourself then I would recommend going a little smaller than what mine were.
In total, mine span about 138cm each across the arm which was a little longer than what I needed and the reason I had to put a second loop in (thought that looks pretty badass)
I would suggest you measure from the tips of your fingers to the centre of your back - I got about 78cm
Cut out two half circles (and make sure that the velvet is facing the right way for both of them)
Then I bought a half a meter of the gold shiny fabric which I then folded up and cut across at 6cm.
I cut out 4 pieces like this so that I could line the cape
Step 2: Measure and Cut the Gold
So I took the gold fabric and folded it up as neatly and accurately as possible.
Then I measured 6cm and marked it and cut it all along the side.
This way I had a fairly neat length of the fabric
If you have a proper setup for cutting fabric then this is not necessary but I do not
Step 3: Round the Ends and Trim the Back
This step is only required if you are using scrap fabric the way I did.
Otherwise just cut and adjust the fabric to the right specifications so that it will look amazing.
Also make sure that the sections that will be attaching to the back are cut in a straight line
Step 4: Pin the Gold On
Begin pinning the gold. Try not to cut the end off just yet because as you sew, the fabric stretches and you have excess.
So try pin and slowly pull it straight.
I also suggest sewing quite slowly.
This fabric was almost sticky and needed a little guidance and nudging to get through the foot, so doing it a little slower would have made for a neater stitch on my part
Hem the gold all the way around or just on the bottom - whatever you fancy, it is your cape.
I only did mine on the bottom and sides, leaving the top bare
Step 5: Pin the Top
This is only necessary if you do not sew the gold all the way around.
I left the top part of the cape without gold so I had to go all the way around the to and hem it to make sure that it wouldn't fray
Step 6: Sew Everything
Now that you have everything pinned the way you want, it is time to sew these pieces on or down
Try to be a bit neater than I was, but know that even if it is a little rough around the edges, it still looks so amazing that you can't actually notice the small flaws
Step 7: Sew the Back Pieces Together
So the back of this cape, will need to be pinned onto whatever costume I end up making.
For this reason, I put them together and quickly sewed them so that they would be easy to pin
Step 8: Measure the Bands
Now the cape needs to be attached to me somehow
And because the pieces were a little longer than they needed to be, they draped quite low, so I opted to make two sets of bands for each arm.
measured around my wrist and elbow
I came to about 18cm for the wrist and 26cm for the elbow. Give or take
Do it according you your own body
Remember the fabric does have a bit of stretch as well
Step 9: Sew the Bands
Flip them inside out and do a straight stitch up the band
Then turn it the right way round
Step 10: Pin and Sew
Pin the newly sewn bands to the tops of the cape
To find where to put the elbow ones, I simply folded one segment of the cape (one side) and found the middle and pinned it to there.
Because the bands are already sewn, it will be a little difficult to sew it on the machine.
I opted to do these by hand
Step 11: And Voila
There you have it
Part one of the Xmen Storm costume
The cape is really stunning and already looked amazing on its own
There is a video below of the entire process I went through to create this.
There will be further posts and videos as I make the rest of the costume.
So far it has been really fun and I love this piece