Homemade Captain America Costume
Make a comfortable homemade Captain America costume using recycled T-shirts and basic sewing supplies. Learn how to make the striped shirt, blue pants, and fabric helmet with its iconic white wings.
Equipment
- Sewing Machine
- Fabric scissors
- Measuring tape
- Pins or sewing clips
- printer (for the templates)
- Serger/overlock machine (optional)
Ingredients
- Royal blue T-shirt in the costume wearer's size
- Large royal blue T-shirt or blue jersey fabric for the pants and helmet
- Red jersey fabric enough for 6 stripes
- White jersey fabric enough for 6 stripes, the star, and the helmet's "A"
- Fusible web for appliqué
- Stiff white iron-on mending fabric
- Matching thread
- Elastic for the pants' waistband
- White long-sleeved shirt
- Red superhero boots
- Captain America shield
- Red gloves
Instructions
Make the Captain America shirt
- Find a star design and print it at a size that looks proportional to the blue T-shirt. Place the paper star on the shirt to determine where to cut, leaving enough room underneath for a seam allowance.
- Fold the shirt in half to keep the cut even, then cut off the bottom portion just below chest level.
- Lay the shirt flat and measure its width. Add seven seam allowances to that measurement, then divide by six to calculate the cutting width of each stripe. For example, with a 36 cm shirt width and 1 cm seam allowances: (36 + 7) ÷ 6 = 7.17 cm per stripe.
- Measure from the cut edge to the desired finished length of the shirt. Add a seam allowance at the top and extra length for hemming, if needed.
- Cut six red and six white jersey strips using your measurements. If possible, cut them from the bottoms of old T-shirts to reuse their existing hems.
- Place one red and one white strip together with right sides facing. Align the bottom hems and sew along one long edge.
- Continue adding strips of alternating colors until you have a panel of six stripes. Repeat with the remaining strips to make a second panel.
- Position both panels beneath the blue shirt to check their width. Adjust if necessary, then place the panels right sides together and sew along both sides to form a tube.
- Turn the striped tube right side out and the blue shirt inside out. Insert the striped tube into the shirt, aligning the upper raw edges with right sides facing.
- Sew around the entire edge to attach the stripes to the shirt. Turn the finished shirt right side out.
- Cut the star from white jersey fabric and appliqué it onto the front of the shirt. Alternatively, paint the star using a stencil or apply it with opaque iron-on transfer paper.
Make the blue pants
- Use a pair of comfortable pants that currently fit as a guide for cutting the pants from a large blue T-shirt or jersey fabric.
- Cut the fabric pieces using a kids' pants tutorial, taking advantage of the T-shirt's existing hem for the bottoms of the pant legs.
- Sew the pants together following the tutorial, then sew elastic into the waistband for a comfortable fit.
Make Captain America's helmet
- Print a swim cap pattern and cut the pieces from blue jersey fabric. Sew them together following the pattern instructions to make a soft fabric helmet.
- Use a Captain America "A" design as a template and cut the letter from white jersey fabric.
- Appliqué the letter onto the front of the helmet. Alternatively, use fabric paint or opaque iron-on transfer material.
- Draw a small wing shape on paper and use it as a template to cut two wings from stiff white fabric.
- If using iron-on mending fabric, fuse two pieces together with their adhesive sides facing to make the wings stiffer. Stiff felt is another option.
- Sew the bottom of each wing to the sides of the helmet so the wings stand outward. You can also use hot glue to attach them.
Put the costume together
- Put on a white long-sleeved shirt, then wear the Captain America shirt over it.
- Add the blue pants, fabric helmet, and red superhero boots.
- Finish with the Captain America shield and optional red gloves.
Notes
A serger (overlock machine) makes tidy seams, but a regular sewing machine works, too. Use a stretch stitch or narrow zigzag stitch when sewing jersey fabric.
Reusing the bottom hems of old T-shirts saves time when making the striped shirt and pants.
For the helmet, I cut the fabric slightly larger than the swim cap pattern for comfort, but it ended up a little big. Following the original pattern size may give a better fit.
For a quicker costume, use ready-made blue pants instead of sewing your own.
The short-sleeved Captain America shirt can also be worn without the white long-sleeved shirt in warmer weather.