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I've been wanting some "cheap" capes for a while. They would be mainly used for the foot soldiers and my current squad that I'm trying to outfit (of 14) could get expensive if I was to go out and bought them.

I took broadcloth, ironed it to get the kinks out, applied (lots) of the anti fraying liquid, then cut out with scissors using the stencil and punched holes using my harbor freight hole punch. Afterwards I applied another layer of the anti fraying liquid and... voila

I think I'm happy with the results... considering I can make couple dozen of them: bought 1 foot of the cloth and a two pack of the liquid and used a 50% off coupon (@ JoAnn's Fabrics) on each item




Btw, I'm also experimenting now with my wife's clear nail polish (shhh don't tell her ) I applied a good layer of it on a piece of broadcloth and I"m waiting for it too dry

Oh yeah, one thing I'm wondering about is what would happen if I was to apply the liquid to half a page and fed that through my laser after it dried... theoretically it should print, right?

I've been wanting to do this too, however I was always unable to find this "broadcloth" I hear so much about! Maybe I could try again soon, because that cape looks great!

OverLoad wrote:I've been wanting to do this too, however I was always unable to find this "broadcloth" I hear so much about! Maybe I could try again soon, because that cape looks great!

If you're in US ask inside of JoAnn's or Hobby Lobby about broadcloth. It doesn't seem to be labeled as such and there is no section that calls it out by name. I had someone point it out to me

Btw, when you touch the material in the store it feels thin and flimsy: don't let that scare you. It's the anti fraying liquid application (in my case twice) that makes it stiff.

So what is your total cost and time investment? I wouldn't mind doing this, but I am currently getting my plain capes from Dave at Cape Madness for a really cheap price, so it would have to be really inexpensive for me to want to make my own.

The printing thing, if it works, would be another story!

$4.13 and I have enough material for 2 or 3 hundred capes and enough liquid for maybe 60+ capes

ludzik wrote:$4.13 and I have enough material for 2 or 3 hundred capes and enough liquid for maybe 60+ capes

That sounds like a pretty good deal. From the picture, it looks like it turned out really nice. Great work. I'd be really interested if you got them printed.

~FB~

Here's a view of the 7 guys with capes

Those capes look pretty good. Your question about applying the liquid to the broad cloth and then feeding it through printer is interesting. Let us know if you decide to risk it. With the success you've had on the simple cape, and the cost seeming pretty low, you should be able to experiment with other cape and cloth designs. I hope to see more results of your experimenting.

Quickblade22 wrote:Those capes look pretty good. Your question about apIlying the liquid to the broad cloth and then feeding it through printer is interesting. Let us know if you decide to risk it. With the success you've had on the simple cape, and the cost seeming pretty low, you should be able to experiment with other cape and cloth designs. I hope to see more results of your experimenting.

I have an old laser printer that might still be in a working condition and I think it might even have some color toner left in it.
I played with the nail polish and while I like the rigidity of the end product it doesn't look too good. I might use it as an edge stiffener for the material that will go through the printer.

Something else I'm wondering about is if I can dilute the liquid a bit and create a 'bath' for the fabric to soak in.

I can't remember if there was any special method for running it through but I know you can print on broadcloth with a laser jet. Dave even does a little of his stuff with a laser jet I believe. If you try it, remember that the color of the cape will affect the apparent color of the print. It works best with dark printing on a light colored fabric. I look forward to seeing your results!

Str0ngbad wrote:I can't remember if there was any special method for running it through but I know you can print on broadcloth with a laser jet. Dave even does a little of his stuff with a laser jet I believe. If you try it, remember that the color of the cape will affect the apparent color of the print. It works best with dark printing on a light colored fabric. I look forward to seeing your results!

Will have to play with that.

BTW, I think that the final formula for plain capes might be anti fraying liquid with a layer of clear nail polish on top.

ludzik wrote:I've been wanting some "cheap" capes for a while. They would be mainly used for the foot soldiers and my current squad that I'm trying to outfit (of 14) could get expensive if I was to go out and bought them.

I took broadcloth, ironed it to get the kinks out, applied (lots) of the anti fraying liquid, then cut out with scissors using the stencil and punched holes using my harbor freight hole punch. Afterwards I applied another layer of the anti fraying liquid and... voila

I think I'm happy with the results... considering I can make couple dozen of them: bought 1 foot of the cloth and a two pack of the liquid and used a 50% off coupon (@ JoAnn's Fabrics) on each item




Btw, I'm also experimenting now with my wife's clear nail polish (shhh don't tell her ) I applied a good layer of it on a piece of broadcloth and I"m waiting for it too dry

Oh yeah, one thing I'm wondering about is what would happen if I was to apply the liquid to half a page and fed that through my laser after it dried... theoretically it should print, right?

Exactly how time consuming was this for you?
While I would love to save money by crafting my own capes, my time is far more valuable to me.

How long does it take you to cut this shape out with scissors ? + about 3 minutes per cape for applying the liquids.

Edit: forgot to add drying time. About 2-3 hours for the anti fraying stuff and overnight for nail polish.

ludzik wrote:How long does it take you to cut this shape out with scissors ? + about 3 minutes per cape for applying the liquids.

Edit: forgot to add drying time. About 2-3 hours for the anti fraying stuff and overnight for nail polish.

Wow, that is a lot quicker than I envisioned. I may have to look into this idea for some fresh new cape colors!

From my experience with designing and printing custom capes, and several email exchanges with custom cape designer Dave of CapeMadness, I have found that in order to make your own printable fabric, you need to stiffen the fabric enough to make it "printer worthy". Also from all the tutorials I've read online for making printable fabric all of them say it will NOT work in a laser printer, only inkjet.

Also depending on the type of fabric (broadcloth, cotton, silks ect.) you may have to apply a ink fixative to the fabric before printing, to ensure the ink does not run.

Here are some helpful tutorials I have read (but have not necessarily used to make my custom fabric elements):

http://www.theidearoom.net/2010/03/gues ... ative.html

http://blog.ecoetsy.com/2012/04/diy_fabric_labels/html

Hope this helps.

~RBC