15 Minute Superhero

I really, really enjoy the "long haul" when it comes to crafting. Cabled sweaters or quilts that take weeks or months don't bother me a bit. With that said though, I do get a lot of satisfaction from sewing up something that only takes a few hours on a slow Saturday afternoon. Or maybe even just 15 minutes...

The other day, my boys were driving me nuts. They were taking the masks for their superhero guys and trying to put them on themselves, straining the elastic around their heads. Ugh! I couldn't really blame them. They had capes on and it seemed like the next logical step.

Action needed to be taken. I took a piece of paper, stuck it to the face of one of the children, and drew a template while I made him stay still. I was going to quickly sew some boy-sized masks.

Template being cut out of white felt.

Diving into my fabric stash I found some wool felt and fabric scraps and set to work. I used my template to cut out one felt piece and one fabric piece. Taking those two pieces, I put them wrong-sides together and sewed around the outer edge using a 1/4" seam allowance. The raw edges on the fabric are exposed this way, but it really doesn't worry me. This isn't going into the washer and frankly a small amount of fraying looks kinda cute.

Yes, it is a polka-dotted mask. Don't judge!

I then [grabbed one of the children running wild while I was sewing] and estimated out what seemed to be the right amount of 1/4" wide elastic to go around the back of a little head. Using a straight stitch I ran back and forth over the elastic attached to the temple sides on the back (I chose that to be the felt side) of the mask. Done!

Impossible to photograph while "flying".

It only took 15 minutes and letting go of "perfection" to make some little boys very happy. Sometimes simple is best.

–Cassandra