By Sewing Contributor Courteney from the blog Crafting with Court.

As a child who lived in the North and the South, I trick or treated in snow and in a heat wave.  However, Halloween costumes seem to be mainly designed for warm temperatures and don’t really have room to jam a snowsuit under.  This bat cape is a great compromise.  If you live in a colder climate, put as many warm layers on as you need, just make sure the top layer is black.  If it’s going to be a warm Halloween, a black T-shirt and black leggings are all you need to make this costume work.  This is also great work appropriate costume if your office dresses up for Halloween.  Save your scraps from this project, you’ll use them to finish this costume later this month!

Materials:

• Black Fleece (1 yard for child, 1 ½ yard for adult)
• Black 1 ½” Satin Ribbon
• Scissors
• Fabric Chalk
• Measuring Tape

1. Fold your fleece into quarters

2. Decide how long you want your cape and mark it. The width of your fleece may limit this if you are an adult.  I made mine 30”, but you can make it shorter.  Use your fabric chalk to mark this length.

3. Use your measuring tape to mark your length in a semi-circle around the still quartered fleece. Make sure the corner with all the folds is the center of your semi-circle

4. Cut the semi-circle out.
5. Cut the neck hole. Cut your neck hole out of the folded corner.  You can use your measuring tape and chalk like you did in step 3 to be more accurate.  I made mine 4”.

6. Scallop the edge of your cape. Using your tape measure and chalk create a scalloped edge on your cape.  I made mine 5” semi circles.  Cut out the semi-circles once you’ve marked them.

7. Unfold your fleece once and cut straight up through one layer of the fleece. This will be the opening of your cape.

8. Unfold your cape the rest of the way, and cut little slits around the neck hole. Make them about 1” long, but it doesn’t have to be exact.

9. Cut your black ribbon. I cut 36”, but the length depends on the size of your neck hole.
10. Thread the ribbon through the slits you made in Step 8.

1. Tie you cape around your neck, and even out the draping.
2. Enjoy your spooky bat cape! Looking to take this from just a cape to a whole costume?  I’ll show you how in my next post!