I don’t agree with giving your child everything he wants when he wants it, however there are those times when you truly want to give them what they ask for, but you don’t have the time and materials to do so. This happened to me when my son received a superhero cape for his birthday and my other children wanted one of their own, so they could play with their big brother.

I’m all for constructing well made garments and would rather “do it right” the first time and sew a nice professional looking cape, however in times like the example above, you need something quick and maybe even something that involve them.

I will show you how you can whip up a quick cape for your child when you think you don’t have the time or the supplies to make one.

These instructions outline how to make a no sew superhero cape that will put a smile on your child’s face.

Step 1: Iron out the wrinkles and folds of a pillowcase (we all have a few extra in the house and you can use an old pillowcase and embellish later).

Step 2: Apply fusible web (if you have it) or hot glue the top edge open edge of the pillowcase and fold over about 2 and press with iron. If using hot glue fold over top edge about 2.5 and press down. This will create a pocket across the top of the pillowcase so that you’re able to bring ribbon or shoelaces through. So make sure you fold over enough to be able to bring ribbon through.

Step 3: Attach a safety pin to the end of the ribbon/string/shoelace and feed through the casing of the pillowcase (if you do not have enough ribbon, you can get some shoelaces and tie them together to create one continuous shoelace).

Step 4: Once you’ve completed the steps above you can cut out your child initial or come up with a quick design and glue onto the pillowcase cape. And there you have it! A pillowcase in less than 20 min… maybe even 10.

I love teaching others how to make a superhero cape. This is one of the more basic capes you can learn. If you’re looking for something more durable or something more professional that you can give as a gift or even sell, then I highly recommend purchasing a tutorial that will give you everything in full color as well as something that will include templates to reduce the amount of work you have to do.