Captain America Costume

Our son LOVES Captain America, yes he is only 3 (almost 4) and he knew he wanted to be him for Halloween months ago. But have you looked at some of the Captain America costume you can buy?? We just could not do it… After looking online for a tutorial, I came back with the same thought. So I started to make my own pattern for the costume and this is how it turned out. Don’t mind the sad face…

What do you think?? I was having trouble with the mask so I decided against it plus I ran out of time for the belt, gloves, and boot covers. But I am pretty happy with what we do have and my son LOVES it, when he is not taking pictures for me…

So how did I do it?? Well first I found a pant pattern (found HERE) and a shirt pattern (found HERE). The pant pattern was too small, so I resized it to 120% to fit my son. Side Note: I think they have a little to much of a flare and wish I would have made them more like a skinny pant. And with the shirt pattern, I altered it so I have attached the pattern I created, Captain America Costume Pattern, it also has the patches for the pants! Please keep in mind that the supplies are for a 3-4 T size costume. 

Disclosure: This post contains some affiliate links for your convenience, click here to read my full disclosure policy. 

SUPPLIES:
– 1 1/4 yard blue fabric (I used a type of jean fabric)
– 3/4 yard white fabric (I used a type of jean fabric)
– 1/4 yard grey fabric
– 1/4 yard red fabric
– one sheet of white felt
– one sheet of red felt
– 2 slide adjusters 1″
– 14″ zipper
– fabric marker
– thread

TOOLS:
– sewing machine
– scissors
– pins
– rotary mat w/cutter

Before I start with the tutorial I want to apologize that some of my pictures are not the greatest when I am sewing because the lighting for taking pictures in not the greatest in the dark yellow basement.

First print the pattern template and tape together. Then cut out the fabric with the pattern. Do not cut any fabric with the arm strip template, circle, or stars yet. 

After cutting out the blue and white fabric pieces, it is time to cut the grey, red, some more blue fabric with the rotary cutter. Cut 4 strips of the grey fabric into 2″ strips. Next cut 2 strip of the red fabric into a 2″ strip. Cut a 20″ x 2 1/2″ strip of blue fabric.

Next it’s time to sew the pieces together, take the shirt pieces (front, right back, and left back), with RIGHT sides of the shirt together, line them up at the shoulders, pin, and sew them together using a 3/8″ seam allowance in straight stitch. Iron out the seams, ironing out the seams will make the garments look more professional and less homemade.

For the pants, start with RIGHT sides of back fabric together, pinning and sewing a 3/8″ seam down the crotch. Do this for the front side of the pant also then iron out the seams.

Now let’s work on the patches. Taking the arm patch, fold the non-curved part toward the WRONG side of fabric by pressing 1/4″ with iron to create a seam. With the pant patches, fold in all sides of the fabric by 1/4″, pressing with iron also.

Taking the arm patch, place it on the RIGHT side of the sleeve fabric with the RIGHT side of the patch facing up, placing the curves of both fabrics together. Pin into place and sew along the patch edges with a 1/8″ seam. Complete this step for the other patch piece. Will look like the picture below but without the sleeve attached to the shirt… that is the next step! 

Next we need to add the sleeve pieces to the front and back of the shirt. With RIGHT sides of the fabric together, pin the middle of the sleeve curve to the middle of the armhole. Continue pinning the sleeve down one side of the armhole to the end of the armhole then pin the other side of the armhole. Sew the sleeve to the armhole with a 3/8″ seam allowance. Do this for the other sleeve piece and iron out your seams…

Now let’s work on the neckline, taking the 2 1/2″ strip of blue fabric that you cut earlier. Fold the strip in half with the RIGHT side of the fabric facing out, press with iron to create a seam. Next find the middle of the front of the shirt, place the middle of strip of blue fabric onto the middle of the shirt front with RIGHT sides together. Pin the neckline down and sew together using a 3/8″ seam allowance in straight stitch.

Once the neckline is attached to the shirt, iron the seam of the neckline toward the shirt. Pin the seam to the shirt. Then top-stitch the seam to the shirt, 1/8″ away from the neckline.

Next take the grey and red 2″ fabric strips, fold each strip in half with the WRONG sides of fabric together, pressing with the iron. Open the strips, have the WRONG side of the fabric facing you, fold the edges of the strip toward the middle (there will be a line now), press with the iron to create a seam. This is like creating bias tape. Do this for the length of each strip.

Now taking 1-2 of the grey strips, attach the strip to the shirt, LIKE PICTURE BELOW, you will want to leave 3-4″ extra in the front of the shirt. I placed the strip 2 1/2″ away from the middle front of the shirt and 3″ from the middle back of the shirt. Pin into place. Take the fabric marker and make a mark 1″ from the bottom of the shirt front.

Now for the sleeves, take the template for the arm strip. Cut the grey strip from the template, like the picture below. You will have 2 shorter strips with angled edges and 4 longer strips.

Place one longer strip RIGHT side down, open the one edge. Place the smaller strip (RIGHT side up) edge against the seam of the longer strip, leave around 3/8″ below the smaller strip. Fold the longer strip over the smaller strip, RIGHT side up now. Pin the strips together. Next fold the extra fabric under the smaller strip. See picture below for all steps. Complete this step for both sides of the smaller strip.

Take the arm strips to the sewing machine and top-stitch 1/8″ on the inside seam of the smaller strip, like the picture below.

Now take the arm strip and attach to the shirt. Place the strip in the middle of the sleeve, 3/8″ away from the edge of the arm patch. (I did use the arm strip template to mark where the strip should go).  Pin into place on the sleeve and then onto the shirt front and back. You may have to move the grey strip on the shirt but mark where they meet before moving. Complete this step for the other arm strip. See the next two pictures to get a better idea of how this should look. 

After arm strip is pinned, sew into place with a 1/8″ top-stitch around the edges of the strip. Make sure to sew only halfway into where the other grey strip from the shirt cross. Now cut the extra fabric from the arm strip and reattach the other grey strip with pins, making sure to leave 3-4″ extra in the front. Then sew the other grey strip into place the same way, but in the front of the shirt only stitch to where you marked the fabric earlier with the marker, sew a straight stitch across the mark.

Next is adding the stars!! Take your star patterns and white felt sheet. Trace 2 small star and one large star, cut out after finished tracing. Then take the circle pattern and red felt sheet, trace 2 circles and cut out.

Place the smaller stars onto the red circles, top-stitch around the edges of the star with a 1/8″ seam. Now pin the large star in the center of the shirt front and top-stitch around the edges of the star with a 1/8″. Place the red circles onto the center of the arm patches, pin into place, then top-stitch around the circle edges with a 1/8″. TIP: Make sure you are using the coordinating thread.

Now for the bottom of the shirt, the white fabric. Take one of the grey strips and attach to the top of the RIGHT side of the white fabric, top-stitch 1/8″ around the edges of the grey fabric. Add this strip to both the back and front of the bottom of the shirt (white fabric). See the picture below for an example.

Next add the red fabric strip, pin into place the same distance as the grey strips from the shirt top (2 1/2″ from the front middle and 3″ from the back middle). Leave 3-4″ extra at the top of the shirt bottom and mark 1 1/2″ down from the top with the fabric marker. Top-stitch the red strip into place 1/8″ from edges, making sure to not stitch past the marked line, sew a straight stitch across the mark.

It is finally time to attach the bottom of the shirt to the top. Take the shirt pieces (top and bottom), with RIGHT sides of the shirt together, line them up at the edges, pin into place, and sew them together using a 3/8″ seam allowance in straight stitch (make sure to not sew the extra red/grey strips into the seam). Iron out the seams toward the blue fabric. Then top-stitch the edge of the blue fabric 1/8″ away from the edge. Complete this step for the back of the shirt.

You may want to check the fit of the sleeves and shirt length on your child before the next couple of steps. You will be hemming them and will need an extra 3/4″ from where you want them to be. Cut off any extra fabric. Hem the sleeve edges by folding 1/4″ pressing with iron then folding another 1/2″ and pressing into place. Top-stitch the hem with a 3/8″ seam. Complete this step for the other sleeve and shirt front and back bottoms.

You will also want to add the slide adjusters now to the front of the shirt. To do this, place sliders onto the extra grey and red strips, folding the strips back into the shirt. Cut off any extra fabric. Pin the strips into place and top-stitch across the top. Will look like this when you’re finished.

Now add the zipper to the back of the shirt. I did this step last but wished I did it before. With the back of the shirt, place RIGHT sides together along the middle of the shirt, pin into place and baste stitch (this is the longest straight stitch on your sewing machine and make sure not to back-stitch) with a 3/8″ seam. Next place your zipper onto the WRONG side of the shirt, see picture below, and pin into place. With your zipper sewing foot, sew the zipper onto the shirt with regular stitch length, turn ends of the zipper into the fabric. After sewing the zipper onto the shirt, unpick the baste stitch.

Now let’s make this look like a shirt. With RIGHT sides of the shirt together, place the front of the shirt over the back of the shirt and pin down the sleeves and sides.  It is easier to pin the armpits first, then pin the rest of the sleeve and then the side seams. Starting at the end of the sleeve, sew a 3/8″ seam down the sleeve, down to the armpit, and continue sewing down the side seam with a straight stitch. Complete this step for the other side of the shirt, then iron out your seams.

Now let’s work on the pants. After sewing a seam down the crotch of both the front and back of the pants. Take the front of the pants to attach the patches, the smaller ones will be at the knees. I held them up to my son’s waist (remembering that I need an extra 1 1/2″ on the top for a hem) and marked where the knee would be on the pants. Pin the smaller patch over the mark and centered on the pant then top-stitch the patch to the pants, sewing 1/8″ around the folding in the edge.

For the larger patch, if you need to create a pocket, stitch one side of the patch with a 1/8″ before adding to the pant, this will be the opening in the pocket. Do this for the other patch, making sure they will be placed where the pocket needs to open. After stitching the open side, pin the patch into place (I had mine about a 1 1/2″ above the other patch, all patches centered) then again sew onto pant with a 1/8″ seam around the folded edge, making sure to leave the one side open. See the next two pictures for examples…

After sewing on the patches, you can finish the pants.

And now your Captain America costume is complete. Well, you could make a belt, helmet, gloves, and boot covers then your costume would be perfect. What do you think of our handmade Captain America costume for kids?

Ps… with the zipper I was not thinking when I bought my zipper and I bought the regular one with a stop on the bottom. It still works but a jacket zipper would be a little easier to put the shirt on and off.

And because I could not resist putting a sad face from having to take pictures, here you go…

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!