DIY Super Baby Costume

This was a mega quick DIY, mainly because it had to be as I realised on the morning of my friend's son's birthday party that it was fancy dress and superhero themed. I felt it was fine for Paul and I to turn up in our 'plain clothes' but that really Millie should be in costume. Granted when we got there, the term 'superhero' had been interpreted loosely being that there was a cow and a giraffe present, but still, I felt I needed to have made some effort.

So, with a quick root in the craft supplies I found (and you will need):
A baby vest (preferably colour matching your chosen superhero - I went with SUPER something)
Iron on printable transfer paper
Some felt
An iron and a sewing machine (preferable, not essential but speeds up the process and I literally made this half an hour before we left the house!)

 

Firstly find your superhero's logo (I don't advocate pinching images via Google but as this isn't to sell I don't think anyone will mind hugely). Reverse it (very important or it will be back to front as was my first mistake). You should be able to do this using any photo editing suite, I use Photoshop.

 

Print your logo. Again, normally I would say don't waste a whole sheet for just one little image but I had no time to think efficiently, if you do have the time fill the sheet with other images you might want to 'iron on transfer'.

 

Cut out your logo and place it onto the baby vest. Follow your instructions, but usually you iron on by pressing rather then gliding without using steam. Do this for a few minutes, until the image is well and truly melted into the fabric. Remove the backing.

 

I then 'set' the logo by using a plain piece of printer paper, place it over the top and iron again. This removes any excess plastic and makes the transfer quite soft and it should now be fine through the wash - check your instructions as they may have other ways to set the transfer.

 

Now for the cape! I had literally a scrap of red felt that I actually pinched from Hatty's material cupboard (another reason it is great she lives three doors down). I placed it on the back of the vest and roughly sketched the size and shape. Then cut it out using fabric scissors - this is where felt it great because it doesn't need hemming. Now just sew it onto the vest, a straight stitch across the top is all it needs - voila, one SUPER BABY outfit (I apologise that it wasn't ironed)!

 

 

 

N.b. You'll notice the logo isn't really bright, this is because the transfer paper I used is really for white or pale colours. You can buy transfer paper that is designed for dark colours and would give a more vibrant finish.

 

N.b. (again!) Don't forget that this isn't a normal baby vest anymore and wash it with all other clothes and then throw it in the tumble drier, your cape will become very very small! This is definitely NOT what I did... okay, I did, but it's still wearable and a little bit funny.

 

Enjoy your super babies

Em x