Superhero Colors Mario Cape + Mario Mustache Tutorial

Huck is at the age where he is never "Huck" anymore. Call him "Huck," and he will insist that he is NOT HUCK, he is Pinocchio or Mickey Mouse or Superhero Colors Mario.
"Excuse me, who?" you ask. Superhero Colors Mario. We got the New Super Mario Brothers for Wii and Huck loves it when Mario gets the star and he flashes a bunch of different colors. He called himself Colors Mario for awhile. Then he found a cape I made for him a couple of Halloweens ago, and when he put it on he became Superhero Colors Mario. The cape was a quick'n'dirty job, so I wanted to make him something that was a better quality, and that would better suit his new persona.


First I cut out my cape from a medium-weight black fabric that I have a bunch of. For the star applique, I applied Lite Steam-a-Seam Double Sided Fusible Web to the rainbow fabric, then traced and cut out a circle. Then I made a star out of yellow polar fleece and just sewed it onto to the rainbow circle--no fusible web since fleece doesn't fray. I painted eyes onto the star and let it dry for a few hours. Then I removed the backing and ironed on my "patch" to the black cape, and then used an embroidery stitch on my machine to do a red circle around it just inside the border, then another gold circle right on the edge. This was the first time I used an embroidery stitch on my machine and I loved the results! I think I will be doing this a lot more with appliques. It gives it just a little oomph andlooks professionally finished. Anyway, it was then a simple matter of sewing the cape to a piece of uncut gold organza (Slippery sucker! Use pins!), right sides together with a little opening at the bottom. I cut out the organza with pinking shears, then flipped it right side out. Then edge stitched all around with gold thread, a little extra on the collar, and some sticky velcro to close it up. That was it!


Now Superhero Colors Mario would not be Mario without a proper mustache. Here is a very easy tutorial to make one for yourself.

click illustration to see it larger
numbers in illustration correspond to steps below

Materials:
Mustache template (see below)
Chalk or fabric marker for dark material
Fabric scissors
Black felt
Black thread
soft elastic cord
toothpick

1) Click on, print and cut out this template:



Hold up the template to your face and make sure it is a good size. If not, there is a larger image here click! that you can resize to fit your face.

2) Trace the template onto one piece of black felt and cut it out. Leave the other piece of black felt uncut.

3) Prepare your elastic cord. Cut the cord so that it is a length that comfortably stretches to fit around your head, over your ears and about to the edges of your lips. Somewhere between 10"-16" (different cords have a different amount of stretch/stiffness, so the easiest way to gauge length is to stretch the cord around your head and make sure it feels comfy). Tie 2-3 knots in each end and yank it tight to make sure it is very secure.

4) Place the cut piece of felt (front piece) onto a slightly larger, uncut piece of felt (back piece) (please note, for the purpose of this tutorial, I'm showing the front piece in black/gray and the back piece in blue so that it is easier to differentiate between the two pieces. For the actual project, I would use black felt for both pieces.) Felt sticks together pretty well, so you probably don't have to pin it, but you can if that is more comfortable for you. Mark dots where the cord will be inserted.

5) Begin to sew along the top of the mustache as close to the edge as possible. When you get to a corner, with the needle all the way down, lift the presser foot and pivot the mustache.

6) Tuck one knot end in between the fabrics at your marked spot and replace the presser foot. Slowly stitch, taking care not to shift the elastic and once you stitch over the elastic, backstitch over it again to secure. (note: you are NOT stitching on the knot itself, the knot should be behind the edge stitch)

7) Continue to stitch around the scalloped bottom edge, going slowly and lightly bringing up the presser foot and pivoting the fabric a bit when necessary.

8) As you approach the second elastic insertion mark, make sure the needle is all the way down and lift the presser foot again. Insert the second knotted end between the fabric, using a toothpick to shift it into the correct position. Once again, carefully stitch over it and then backstitch to secure.

9) Complete stitching all the way around the mustache. End with a backstitch and remove from the machine.

10) Cut the back felt piece out to match the front piece.

11) It's a-go!

If you complete a project based on this tutorial, I would love to see it posted it to my Flickr group: http://www.flickr.com/groups/1309748@N20/