Vampire Cape Pattern – Unisex Easy Halloween Costume: Part 1

This is the vampire cape pattern, a perfect sewing project for the upcoming cold, grey, lazy sewing October days.

Making Halloween outfits for older teenagers is very hard these days.  The media, tv shows and movies often have children overly sexualized, preying upon the need for kids to belong to a pack as it is our mammalian nature.  So what is the alternative? My answer is a costume that is either funny or cool.  Since a sense of humor is subject to culture and interpretation I will leave that to you guys, I am going for cool.  I see you cool

This is a vampire cape pattern for a unisex Halloween costume that can be stitched in a couple of hours.  It uses your sewing scraps and an old t-shirt, and turns it into a cool and striking costume (plus reducing the budget significantly).  The original cape is short but I will also be showing you how to make the long version.

It will fit a person 4'3″ to 5'7″, from about 3XS to 2XL.  The full costume is very easy to fit, so easy that I can make a large dog can wear it.  See George our new model down below, although I am not so sure he is so happy, luckily he will do anything for a treat.

If you are taller than the measurements I have just given you, I will show you how to make this vampire cape pattern fit your body.

As you can see in the pictures the pattern features a mock-up tuxedo top, a fake bow tie as well as a white t-shirt in the center with the black sides for a color block effect.  The effect is achieved with an inset corner which I will show you how to sew in a later tutorial.

In total the whole project will take you between two to four hours to make. The Halloween vampire cape project is ideal for those who have never worked with knit fabrics before.

How To Download Your Vampire Cape Pattern

I do not ask you to download any other program other than the latest copy of Adobe Reader.  Use Actual Size and Landscape mode.  Never scale the pattern.

Pattern Download

Materials

• 1.2 to 1.5 yards of  two-way stretch black knit fabric
• 1/2 a yard of white two-way stretch fabric OR an old white t-shirt
• 12″ X 6″ red knit
• 12″ X 6″ stretchable fusible interfacing
• 1 to 2 felt sheets
• Thread to match
• 5 black buttons, covered buttons or black round felt pieces
• 12″ of velcro or plastic snaps
•  Strip of bias made from a contrasting fabric OR the same as the cape made to the length of your collar

Tools

• Rotary cutter
• Kam tool if using plastic snaps
• Overlocker ideal not essential
• Microtex or ballpoint needle

Fabric Suggestions from Fabric.com

How To Fit The Vampire Cape Pattern

The first thing I need to point out is that there is no back on the “tuxedo”, the cape is the back.  So it is just a matter of making sure that the front will cover your chest and end at your waist.  This is to make the fitting process as simple as possible.

The waistband needs to be long enough to wrap around your waist.  The collar will have to wrap around your neck comfortably.

How To Sew Your Vampire Cape

The first thing you need to know is that there is no seam allowance included in the pattern, please add a 3/8″ seam allowance.  Also, the entire project can be sewn by only using your overlocker.

As a note, I used an old white t-shirt as the front piece to save on fabric and time.  If you want to do this too all you have to do is: cut the front in a diagonal, add seam allowance and sew the pieces together.

Sewing Level: Beginner

Step One

We are going to divide the front piece into two.  White on the top and black at the bottom to simulate a tuxedo.  Trace a diagonal line, cut and add seam allowance to the front piece.

Step Two

Cut the top on white and the bottom on black on the fold of the fabrics.  Then sew the top and bottom together.

For a complete tutorial on tips on how to sew an inset corner please follow this tutorial.

How, when and why to clip seam allowances

Step Three

Sew the waistband piece to the side piece. Do the other side. This is what you should have.

You can skip cutting the front piece and just do one color on the front creating a slimmer look.  You can save 15 to 20 minutes off of your project. I leave that to your taste.

Serge the shoulders.

Step Four

Make sure the collar can be fastened comfortably around the neck.  Because you are using felt there will be no need to serge the edges.  The collar will only be sewn to the front of the fake tuxedo, this is why felt is the perfect material for the collar.

a.  Mark a 1″ notch in the center of the collar.

b.  Cut the mark to simulate a tuxedo collar.

c.  Fold the corners and topstitch matching the color of the felt.

Sew a small piece of velcro or a plastic snap to fasten the collar.

Attach the collar to the fake tuxedo sewing it only to the front this is easily done since there is no back to the tuxedo. 

Join me on Tuesday for Part 2 of this project when I will be showing you how to sew the cape and finally put it all together.  I will also show you how to make this vampire cape pattern longer and wider so a large adult can wear it.

If you are looking for a Halloween pattern for young girls we have a full sew-along on how to make a Princess Dress Pattern, plus how to make some matching decorations in this article.

Easy Princess Dress Pattern: Have you seen Frozen?

Until next time when I will be sharing with you my favorite dress suitable for any season.

Keep your scissors sharp and Happy Sewing!

Go to Part 2