Makeover Monday: Pillowcase + Socks = Superhero Costume

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Super Zara!

After I dyed my swimsuit cover-up and my wood clothespins, I threw an old pillowcase into the purple dye. Zara loves playing superhero, so she needed a cape and cuffs. I used that pillowcase to make her cape and a pair of baby socks to make her cuffs or pow-pows, as she calls them. More on that later.

Ingredients:

• Pillowcase
• Baby socks
• Scissors
• Embroidered initials
• Hot glue gun & fabric glue sticks
• Paper
• Pencil
• Disappearing ink pen
• Needle & thread
• Fray check
• Acrylic paint (or fabric paint)
• Paint brush
• Empty paper towel roll
• Freezer paper
• Tape
• Velcro

Start by cutting off the tops of the socks. Tape freezer paper waxy side out on the paper towel roll. This will make sure the cuffs aren't glued shut and will allow you to sit them upright to dry.

Getting started on the cuffs.

Put the cuffs on the paper towel roll and give the raw edges a coating of fray check. I glued the letters on, but had to go back and sew them.

Feel free to skip the gluing and go straight to the sewing.

Now for the cape. Cut one side off the pillowcase, leaving the hems intact.

Keep the hems.

Double roll the sides and glue them down. Do the long sides first and then the short side.

Roll and glue.

Cut the deep decorative hem off of the side that had been cut away from the pillowcase. This will be the strap.

The strap in progress.

Hem the short sides with a bit of glue.

Hem the short sides.

Turn the long edges in and glue together. This will make a tube. Glue velcro on to the ends.

Fold the strap and add the velcro. Stick it all together with more glue.

Cut two slits into the inside of the wide decorative hem on the cape.

Yeah, these aren't too pretty, but they get the job done.

Feed the strap through the slits.

The strap is finished! Yay!

Now the cape needs to be decorated. All good superheros need logos. I sketched out a Z that mimics the Zs on the cuffs. You could also print out a large letter from your computer. Cut out the letter.

Rough sketch of a large Z.

Trace your letter onto the back of the cape with a disappearing ink pen.

Trace the letter with disappearing ink.

I used two plates to trace concentric circles over the Z. After it's painted it will look like the Z is in front of an O. You could make any shape you like.

Tracing plates.

Use acrylic paint or fabric paint to color in your design.

You know I had to throw some pink in there somewhere.

Let it dry and then it's finished. Super-yay!

Finished!

Closeup on the pow-pows.

And here's why Zara calls her cuffs pow-pows.

Messing with Super Zara is not advised. I'm getting a kick out of the upside down tiara.

If you happen to sew, then this project should probably be sewn. I don't. My machine is still holding a grudge and I wasn't about to do all of that by hand.