Super fun dress up

Members of my extended family generally get along great. We’re a close-knit crew and we love each other dearly. But there’s an issue about which we don’t see eye to eye: Princesses.

Despite being the parents of two little girls, my husband and I are doing our best to keep Cinderella, Ariel, Belle and friends out of our house. A few princessy products have infiltrated, but for the most part we’re winning the battle.

I don’t use the word “battle” lightly. For the under 5 set, princesses are everywhere. They’re on drinking cups, boots, pajamas and Pull-Ups.

We don’t get it. Why would we willingly subject our girls to stories about women having to be rescued by men? And don’t kids grow up with enough sense of entitlement today, without anyone telling them the end all be all is to live in a castle surrounded by servants? Hasn’t MTV’s “My Super Sweet 16” done enough damage?

Everyone tells us we’re overreacting. We are. I know. Our nieces love princesses and they’re perfectly well-adjusted preschoolers who are loving and kind and creative.

But at our house, because children still love to play dress up, we’re creating an alternative to the tulle-and-taffeta costumes sold by Disney. We’re inventing our own superheroes, and I’ve begun making custom capes and crowns for each of them.

The first in the series is Dyno Mighty, a brachiosaurus who always eats her vegetables. Future heroes will include Captain Carousel (an “up-and-down horse,” as my daughter calls them), Wonder Worm (lover of books) and The Green Monster (defender of our garden).

To make the Dyno Mighty cape, I appliquéd scrap fabric in the shape of a brachiosaurus to a piece of white fleece. I used a “learn how to draw dinosaurs” book as my guide. I wanted the character to have a patchwork look, so I used different fabrics for the legs, body and tail of the dinosaur.

The dinosaur then was sewn onto the body of the cape, which is basically a rectangular piece of pink fleece. The cape should be big enough so the child can flounce around with it, but not so long that it becomes a tripping hazard. The one I made for my 2-year-old is 14 inches wide by 16 inches long.

If you prefer to use a pattern, Simplicity 5927 looks like a good place to start.

I edged the cape with a strip of floral knit fabric that I used as if it were bias tape, folding it under and sewing it to the main fabric to outline the project in a folksy way. While doing this to the bottom of the cape, I pulled on the knit gently as it ran through the sewing machine, so the cape hangs in a swirly, twirly way.

The top edging formed a tube, through which I pulled a 1-inch wide, 30-inch long strip of pink fleece that can be tied around my daughter’s neck.

If tying stuff around your child’s neck makes you nervous, experiment with other closures. You could make a shirt for your costume, for example, with Velcro patches on the shoulders that connect with Velcro sewn onto the cape, so nothing drapes across the neckline.

I was about to start experimenting with making a felt crown when a book I’d ordered arrived at my house. It has a perfect pattern for one. The book is “The Creative Family,” by Amanda Blake Soule, a mother of three who offers ideas for raising creative kids, connecting with family, and celebrating traditions and community. Soule’s blog, soulemama.typepad.com, is one of my favorite virtual stomping grounds.

To make the crown, cut two pieces of wool felt into identical crown-like shapes. They eventually will be sewn atop one another. The crown should be long enough that it wraps around your child’s head but stops short of the flaps touching in the back by a few inches.

Decorate the front piece with whatever you desire. I created some stars and circles and embroidered the words “Dyno Mighty” on mine. The little ones can easily get involved in this step, choosing how to decorate the crown and even gluing pieces down, if you don’t plan to sew them.

Finally, sew the two crown pieces together, sandwiching a 5-inch piece of 1-inch wide elastic inside the crown’s two back flaps, so the finished product forms a full circle.

A note of disclosure: As excited as my 2-year-old was every time she saw me working on her cape and crown, she is stubbornly refusing to wear her new costume now that it’s done. This is typical for her – she often has to warm up to new things before they become part of her life – so I’m not retreating to the Disney Store with my glass slipper in my mouth quite yet.