How to Make a Vampire Cape with a Stand Up Collar

I love a good cape for Halloween. They’re so fun to swing around in and they can be used for loads of different costumes. But this year we decided to go for a Dracula look, requiring a rigid collar. So today I’m going to show you how to make a vampire cape with stand up collar!

The collar is a circle that attaches to the neck of the cloak. The unique shape allows it to overlap in front, where it snaps shut. My son chose the decorative button to enhance the medieval effect.

The cape itself is a big circle of fabric, allowing it to drape wonderfully around the shoulders. But, even more important, it makes it perfect for swinging and swirling!

If you’ve got a high-energy child like mine, I promise that he or she will LOVE moving around with this cloak to see how high and wide it can swing!

And if you’re thinking that you’d like to have fun swinging around, too, you’re in luck! This cape is made according to your body measurements, so you can make one for any age and any size!

If you want to learn how to make a vampire cape with a stand up collar, watch this video or continue reading below!

Materials:

• black fabric (See “Take Measurements” below to find out how much exactly you’ll need. I used lightweight black scuba fabric* left over from my Hyacinth Moto Leggings, but you can use other types, even non-stretch, as long as it has a good drape.)
• flexible tape measure*
• chalk wheel*
• fabric shears*
• fabric scissors for notching*
• heavy-weight fusible interfacing*
• ballpoint pins*
• black polyester thread*
• stretch needle, size 90*
• 1” (2.5 cm) sew on snap*
• Cucicucicoo Circle Skirt template (optional. It helps to line up the fabric properly. You can find out more about the Circle Skirt here. My free patterns and templates are available to all Cucicucicoo Newsletter subscribers. The Newsletter is sent out every two weeks and you can unsubscribe whenever you want. Sign up for the Newsletter here for access to dozens of free downloads, templates and patterns! If you are already subscribed, just look at the bottom of the last Newsletter you received for the link and password.)

Print out these instructions!
Scroll down to the end of this post and click “Print”.

Take measurements:

Measure around the neck. In our case it was a very loose 40 cm, which I changed to 45 cm just to make it extra wide for overlapping.

Then measure from the neck to the bottom of the cape. I wanted around the knees, which was about 85 cm.

To cut the hole for the neck, you need the radius of the neck measurement. This isn’t exact math, but easy math. Divide the neck circumference by 6. This is the distance to measure from the top fold of fabric.

To this number, add the length of the cape, plus 1 cm for seam allowance. You will measure this length from the top fold of fabric, too, but to mark the bottom of the cape. (You can see these measurements in the picture above.)

Multiply this second number by 4 to find out the length of fabric you need. In my case, this number was 95 cm, so I needed 380 cm of fabric.

Cut the fabric for the vampire cape:

1. Fold the fabric from one short end, right sides facing, making sure to fold over as much as your second measurement (95 cm for me). If you want to make sure that you’ve lined up the fabric properly, position the circle skirt template on the corner, with one edge directly on the fold and the other 1 cm from the open edges. This is the seam allowance.

2. Make marks with chalk* the first number’s distance from the top corner, then connect the marks. This is the cutting line for the neck.

3. Make marks with chalk the second number’s distance from the top corner, then connect the marks. This is the cutting line for the cape bottom.

4. Pin the fabric along the edges and the marked curves, then cut along the lines.

5. Fold the fabric again and repeat steps 1-4, or lay the first cape piece on top of the refolded fabric and trace around it.

Make the stand up rigid collar:

6. Fold the heavy-weight fusible interfacing*, sticky sides facing, so that there’s about 20 cm of the paper side up. (Seen on the left above.) Then fold the interfacing again in the other way so that there is a 20 x 20 cm square facing you. (Seen on the right above.)

7. Place the neck curve of one of cape pieces on this square, matching up the edges with the edges of the interfacing square. Trace along the curve with a pen.

8. Make marks 6 cm from the neck curve with the tape measure*, then connect them with a line. Pin the layers together, then cut along both lines.

9. Open the interfacing up so that it is a half-circle. Make a mark 1 cm from the center on one fold. From there, draw a line at about a 45° angle. Cut along this line and along the fold where the 1 cm seam allowance is marked. (Seen in the top image above.)

10. Fold the big piece of interfacing, sticky sides facing, and position the half-circle piece along the fold. Trace around it, then cut out the second piece. (Seen in the bottom image above.)

11. Iron both circles, sticky side down, onto the wrong side of scrap pieces of black fabric, as seen in the top image above. (There will be plenty left from cutting out the cape circles.)

12. Cut the fabric directly along the inner circle and 1 cm away from the other edges.

13. Pin the collars together, right sides facing. Make sure to line up the inner circles and the open parts of the circles.

14. Sew around the outer part of the circle, from one 1 cm edge around to the other, as close as possible to the interfacing. Try not to sew into the interfacing. Do NOT sew the center circle.

15. Clip the corners of fabric and cut notches around the outer curve, as seen above. (Read my lesson on turning and topstitching to find out more about clipping and notching.)

16. Flip the collar right side out and iron flat. (Seen above to the right.) Topstitch around the outer edges, then sew as close as possible to the edge around the inner circle.

Join the collar to the cape:

17. Join the two cape pieces. Line up one edge of each cape piece, right sides facing, pin them and sew straight down with a 1 cm seam allowance.

18. Fold the collar in half and stick a pin into the fold. (The top image above.)

19. Lay the cape out, right side up. Line the pin up with the center seam of the cape, and pin them together. (The bottom image above.)

20. Continue pinning the collar to the neck of the cape. Then sew carefully along the pinned curve with a 1 cm seam allowance. If your fabric frays, finish the raw edges with a zig zag stitch or overlocker.

21. Flip the collar up so that the seam allowances are facing down towards the cloak, and topstitch them in place. (Shown by the arrow to the left above.)

Notice that there will be 1 cm of cloak fabric sticking out, as shown by the arrow to the right above.

The final touches:

22. If your fabric frays, sew around the raw edges with a zig zag stitch or overlocker.

23. Fold the cape fabric edges over by 1 cm, starting from the bit sticking out at the collar (shown by the arrow above), and sew them down. Do this on both straight edges, and again along the curved bottom.

If your fabric is stretchy, it probably will not be hard to sew a curved hem. If the fabric doesn’t cooperate (typical with woven fabric), you can use one of these tips for hemming a circle skirt or hem with bias tape as shown here.

23. Overlap the collar ends so that it fits nicely around the neck and looks nice. Make a mark on each end of the collar showing where you’ll sew each half of the snap*.

24. Sew a decorative button over the snap to cover up the stitches. Nicky chose this one from my button stash because he thought that it looked medieval like Dracula! 😄

(Yes, you might’ve noticed from the two pictures above that I ended up reversing which collar end overlapped the other. There was no particular reason for this.)

Now for the most fun part: wearing the vampire cloak!

I’ll tell you, my little boy LOVES this cape! He has such a great time swirling around, and holding his arm up to his face and making menacing looks from behind his arm. This photoshoot was one of the most fun ones we’ve had!

I mean, just look at that swirl! It almost looks like a liquid, not fabric! See why I said that the fabric needs to have a good drape?!

Admit it: you want one, too, don’t you? I know I do! You can totally make another one for yourself! Just take your measurements and start cutting!

If you liked learning how to make a vampire cape with a stand up collar, make a hooded cape, too! They’re great for brother-sister duos!

Of for a DIY cape that’s even easier, read here how to sew a witch cape with a rectangle of fabric in about one hour! It’s really simple and a perfect handmade Halloween costume for beginner sewists!

Do you want all the new sewing techniques and cool modern sewing projects? Then sign up for the Cucicucicoo Newsletter here for access to dozens of free printables! 

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