DIY Clark Kent/Superman Kids Costume

Not to be left out, my little man needed a costume too and since we are superhero crazy these days the idea of being Superman got a big thumbs up!  But I didn't want to mess with trying to recreate the spandex "superhero" outfit, so instead I went for a different twist and did a Clark Kent/Superman mash-up and it was a massive hit! The kids loved it and parents were stopping us taking pictures so they could try it next year so I guess it turned out OK!!!

My starting point had to be the Superman symbol.  I found this classic red and yellow logo just by doing a quick google image search.

Once I printed it out full sized, I put a piece of bright yellow felt under a piece of red felt, cut out the outline, and then with the stencil pinned to the red piece I cut out the areas I wanted the yellow to show through.

Now for the cape.  I want to preface this by saying I am no master seamstress in fact I am a true beginner so there probably are more efficient ways to do this, but I just kind of winged it and I guess this is proof if I can do it so can you!  Ok enough nonsense, to make the cape I took an XL red t-shirt I had in my stash, folded it in half and layered than on top of a piece of red satin the same size also folded in half.  I cut off the bottom hem of the t-shirt and just under the collar, and then cut down the sides of the t-shirt to make two square of the cotton.  You only need one of the t-shirt piece and one piece of satin the same size.  The other piece of t-shirt you can use for another project or save it to make a strap to tie the cape on later.  You could use just the t-shit or the satin but I wanted it soft on one side and shiny on the other, plus the two layers give the cape a little more structure which I think looks great.

Now pin on your Superman symbol to the right side of the satin piece, centered near the top and sew along the outside edge and along all the areas you cut out to expose the yellow.

Next, lay the t-shirt upside down so the right sides are facing together and sew along the outside edges leaving the top corners open to turn and create a space to run your neck tie or strap to attach the cape. I cut a small triangle section off of each corner, turned the raw edge under and sewed along that edge just to finish it off and help the cape gather better around the top.

For the costume I used Clark's necktie as the strap to hold the cape on, but sine the kids plan to use this beyond Halloween as part of a new dress-up station I'm working on I did cut a piece of elastic and added a few small pieces of velcro so that it would be easy to take on and off whenever my little "superhero" feels the need.

To finish off this costume I bought a superman t-shirt at Walmart.com, the lunch box is from Target, the glasses are reading glasses from the dollar store that I just popped the lenses out of and the name tag I grabbed from the church nursery last week.. I asked I promise :)

The khaki pants and belt we already had, but the tie and long sleeved shirt I found at a thrift store for 50 cents each!  As you can see my little guy was totally feeling his costume!!!

Unlike little sister's No Sew Girly Ghost costume, this did take a little sewing but it was soooooooooo worth it!  At least for one night my amazing little guy felt like a superhero and because he loved his costume so much he thought his Mommy was "the bestest ever" (a direct quote) for making it just for him!  Wow does that make the effort worth it :)  

Happy Halloween from our house to yours!!!

Enjoy,