Learn How I Created a Captain Marvel-Inspired Emblem for a Skirt

Learn How I Created a Captain Marvel-Inspired Emblem for a Skirt

A month or so ago I took my daughter’s outgrown peppermint swirl dress, seam ripped the skirt from the bodice, patched a slit in the top of the skirt, and added a waistband resulting in a swirling and twirling skirt. In the process the skirt’s colors made me think of Captain Marvel’s logo which lead to me making Ada a Captain Marvel inspired skirt. I wanted to share with you just how I patched the skirt’s slit in case you also want to make a Captain Marvel inspired outfit.

Pinterest geared image showing the post's title (middle), main URL (bottom), and a collage of four images. The top two show the process of making the star, the middle one shows the finished logo on the skirt, and the bottom image shows my plan on how to make it.

While converting the outgrown Peppermint Swirl dress into a skirt, using the free tutorial found on the Candy Castle website, I realized quickly that the skirt portion of the dress had a slit in the back from where the opening with the snaps started. I knew that the slit needed to be patched before I could add the waistband to the skirt otherwise there would be a small hole under the waistband. I wanted to find some way to securely close the slit and briefly considered simply sewing the slit closed but I couldn’t find the blue fabric I used before and I wanted that portion of the skirt to look like part of the design process rather than just a hasty fix. My daughter loves Wonder Woman so I looked online at her costume and logo for inspiration to design a patch for the skirt. Although I didn’t go ahead with my Wonder Woman idea I did want to share my preliminary idea with you in case you’d rather go in that direction. The below diagram shows how far I got before abandoning it for my next plan. Specifically, I was going to sew a red W and then angle it so one of it’s arms covered up the slit. I was then going to topstitch around the W‘s edge to secure it in place and then add the waistband according to the free tutorial. As the slit measured two inches tall the side edge of the W would need to be longer than that to fully cover the slit properly.

Image is a screenshot of the Wonder Woman inspired skirt patch. It's titled "Plan 1 - Wonder Woman" and then shows the slit in the skirt, a plus sign, a red labelled W, an equal sign, and then the W placed at an angle on the skirt so the slit is hidden with the band sketched on above it.

I wasn’t sure if I liked how it looked but then looking at the skirt itself I realized the swirls’ colors were similar to Captain Marvel’s outfit. I looked online to verify and then one thing led to another and I was recreating the center of Captain Marvel’s bodice on the top of Ada’s new skirt thus converting her too small dress into a Captain Marvel inspired skirt simply by trying to patch the slit. Specifically, the top of Captain Marvel’s outfit is red, the bottom is blue, and both parts are separated by a golden border with a eight sided star in the center. To recreate this I decided to make the waistband of the skirt red since the top of the logo is red. Essentially I assumed the multi-colored skirt itself was the blue bottom which was made easier as the slit itself was placed in a blue swirl. I then used my yellow fabric to create the border and star. Since I didn’t want this to take up too much space on the skirt I angled the border up more drastically than in Captain Marvel’s and decided to use red fabric above the star. This way the star didn’t need to completely cover the slit as the red fabric above it would also help cover it up.

Again the image shows a screenshot of the plan but this time for Captain Marvel. The top is labelled "Plan 2 - Captain Marvel". The next section shows a simple diagram of the slit, a plus sign, a labeled eight pointed star, another plus sign, and then a yellow tube with a seam down the center so it looks like two lines. There's a x2 showing I want to make two of these. Below it is a sketch of the final idea once all four pieces are brought together.

I knew the biggest and most complicated part of this design was the star so I decided to tackle that portion first by looking online for a simple template I could use. Once I found one that looked similar to Captain Marvel’s I printed it making sure to change the settings before hitting Print so the star would be small enough to use. Since the space above the star was also going to be covered I didn’t need the star itself to be over two inches tall like I had planned for the Wonder Woman W to be. Instead I went for the star to be about two inches, or a bit less, in height and later ended up placing the star below the slit rather than on it so the border strips would work.

Image is a screenshot from my computer showing the yellow star in the background with the grey print screen overlapping it.
I found a star online that looked similar to Captain Marvel’s and printed it off making sure it was the proper size by playing around with the scale in the print settings.

Once I had the star printed I cut it out using my scissors and then used the paper star as a template by placing it on the wrong side of my yellow fabric and tracing around it with a disappearing ink pen.

Image shows my hand holding up a piece of paper with the grey star printed on it. Each point has one edge cut while the opposing point is holding the paper in place. Behind it sits the rest of the paper and the bright yellow fabric I'm going to use for the star.
I found it quickest to cut out the star if I went around cutting the one edge of each point first and then going around again cutting the other edge.
Image shows me pressing some fingers down on the grey star placed on top of the two-layered yellow fabric.
I folded the yellow fabric in half with the wrong sides facing outward. I then placed the paper star on top making sure it wouldn’t be cut off with the fabric’s edge or overlap too far with the selvage.
Image shows me holding the grey paper star in place on the yellow fabric. A black disappearing ink pen sits beside. You can see an outline around the outside of the star were I already traced around it.
I then traced around the edge of the star with my black disappearing ink pen.

Once I had the outline marked I clipped the fabric in place so it wouldn’t budge and removed the paper template. I then took the fabric to my sewing machine where I sewed along the edge of the star making sure to stop before I got back to the beginning so there would be enough space, albeit small, to turn the star right side out afterward. I also made a point to stop my machine, lift my pressure foot, and pivot at each tip of a star point and divot between the points.

Image shows the yellow fabric folded over with the grey paper star placed lightly on top with the outline already marked. Three clips keep the fabric in place.
I clipped the fabric in place so it wouldn’t budge.
Image shows a closeup of the yellow fabric with the black inked outline of a star. There are five sewing clips placed around the fabric and the paper template is off to the side at the top of the photo.
I removed the paper, trimmed the excess fabric off with my fabric scissors, and added more clips to keep the fabric securely together.
Image shows the scrap of yellow fabric in my sewing machine with four sewing clips still attached. The needle is in the outline and yellow thread is traced along it's length as it's fed to the needle point.
I took the yellow fabric to my sewing machine and carefully sewed along the outline making sure to stop and pivot the fabric around the sewing needle at each sharp turn. I removed the clips as I went and made sure to keep one star edge unsewn so I could turn the small star right side out.
Image shows the same scrap of fabric on the kitchen table. The black star's outline is obscured by yellow thread overlapping it. The loose thread ends show where the stitching was started and ended.
Here’s what it looked like fresh from the sewing machine before the threads or fabric was trimmed.

I next grabbed my pre-heated iron and pressed the fabric so the ink would disappear. This step could’ve been left for later but I wanted to confirm that all the ink had disappeared before the star was turned right side out.

Image shows the fabric scrap with no black ink on it and a vague yellow outline. In the background sits the iron.
I pressed the star so the heat from the iron would make the ink disappear.

I then grabbed my fabric scissors and carefully cut into each star divot and then along the stitching so there would be less fabric bulking up the star once I finally turned it right side out.

Image shows the same fabric with the yellow star but now there are cuts leading to each inner corner in the star and the metal scissors lay beside.
I used my scissors to carefully cut into the fabric leading to each divot in the star.
Image shows the yellow fabric with the excess fabric around the star cut off.
I then cut across so there was no excess fabric at each star point.
Image shows the yellow star with only a thin seam allowance along each edge.
I then cut along each edge so there would be no excess fabric adding extra bulk to the star later on.

Finally it was time to turn the star right side out which was rather difficult. I ended up using the tip on my sewing machine’s lint brush to push the star’s points out but then switched to a metal chopstick when the lint brush poked through one of the star’s tips creating a small hole.

Image shows the lint brush pushing the bottom of the star up, within it's body, so the tip would come out of the hole in the top. The tip of the lint brush is hidden in the star.
Instead of trying to jam the wrong side of the star into a small hole from the outside of the star I instead used my lint brush tip to push the star through the inside and out the hole. I was then able to pull the tip out of the opening and use the lint brush to push each point right side out.
Image shows the star right side out with one and a half points sticking out. The two bottom points are hidden within the star and the last ones are off photo. The tip of the lint brush is beside the star and you can see loose threads in the one star tip where the tip poked through.
I continued to use the lint brush to push each star point out until the brush went through one of the tips causing a hole. I then switched to a metal reusable chopstick so the tip would be more blunt and have less chance of poking through the fabric.
Image shows the yellow star with all points mostly outward. Behind and beside it you can see part of the chopstick and lint brush used to poke out the tips.
I carefully used my chopstick, as it had a blunt tip, to poke each star tip out. I then went around again with my lint brush carefully getting into each tip.

Once the star was fully turned out I attempted to fold the raw edge inside the star and pressed the entire star to hold the points and folds in place.

Image shows the star now flattened with the lint brush and chopstick pushed to the back of the image. If you look closely you can see where the seam allowance is along the edge as the star is more opaque in those spots with the added layers.
I carefully tucked the raw edge into the star and used my iron to press the entire star into place.

The next step was to use the leftover yellow fabric to make the golden border between the top and bottom part of the skirt. Captain Marvel’s outfit looks like it has two golden stripes close to each other. I considered duplicating this but I didn’t want to mess around turning a small fabric tube right side out or having to fold and hide the raw edges of a skinny strip of fabric. Instead I decided to go simpler and instead created a larger tube of yellow fabric and press it so the seam runs along the center of the flattened strip. This way it gives the illusion of being two skinnier strips with only the work of one wider one. To determine how wide I needed to cut my fabric strip, to make the yellow tube, I grabbed a ruler and measured the space between two star points. This space was one inch wide and as I knew I wanted my strip to be balanced between those two points I knew this meant my flattened strip should be one inch across when sewn.

Image shows the yellow pressed star with a metal ruler across showing it's width to be about 2.5 inches.
Since I had the ruler out anyway I checked the width and height of my star and found it to be two and a half inches across. Figured I’d share in case you need to know.
Image again shows the yellow star but this time the ruler has shifted to highlight the one inch space between the right side point and the point a bit above it.
After consulting images of Captain Marvel I determined I wanted the yellow strip to come out of the star angled up balanced between a large side point and the smaller point above. Thus I measured the distance between these two points, on either side of the star, and determined they were about one inch apart.

Once I knew my strip should be one inch, after sewn and pressed, I was able to calculate the width of the fabric strip I needed to cut. Since there’d be a front and back layer I doubled the width I wanted (2*1") and then added half an inch to account for the quarter inch seam allowance (2"+1/2"). This brought me to a width of two and a half inches. The fabric piece wasn’t too long so I skipped calculating the length I needed the fabric strip to be and instead just cut the strip from the entire remaining length of fabric.

Image shows a rectangle of yellow fabric on a cutting board. The clear ruler overtop shows I'm about to cut a strip of fabric thats 2.5 inches by 12. A rotary cutter sits near the bottom.
After determining I wanted a strip that’s two and a half inches wide I found a space on my fabric that gave me a twelve inch long strip.

I then folded the fabric strip in half lengthwise, making sure the right sides faced each other, clipped it in place, and sewed along the raw edge with a quarter inch seam allowance. I then turned the fabric tube right side out and carefully pressed it making sure that the seam stayed centered on one side of the flattened tube. I then folded this in half to find my center point and cut across the strip so I’d have two equally long strips that could be placed on either side of my star.

Image shows two six inch long strips of yellow fabric, a pair of metal fabric scissors, and a yellow eight point star.
With that all my yellow pieces, the most fiddly ones, were ready to go. I had two matching yellow strips with a seam down the center to give the illusion of the two strips on Captain Marvel along with an eight pointed star.

Finally it was time for the skirt itself. Earlier I had seam ripped the bodice from the skirt portion so I was left with a hemmed skirt with the slit remaining where the back of the dress used to be. I planned to make the new emblem the center front of the skirt, thus switching the skirt from back to front, so I laid out the skirt with the slit at the center top. I then placed the star and strips around the slit playing with how it was laid out before settling on my preferred placement. I chose to have the star right below the bottom of the slit with the strips overlapped behind the star and angled up so their raw edges overlap with the raw edge of the skirt. I then grabbed a scrap of red fabric and cut it to fit the space behind and between the star and strips so the slit will be fully covered up. I loved how it looked all laid out!

Image shows the star laid out below the slit on the blue fabric. The strips are angled up going to the top of the dress making a triangle. Behind the yellow fabric you can see the yellow, orange, blue, and red swirls.
I started by playing around with how the star and strips were laid out until I was happy with the arrangement. I made sure the raw ends of the strips were hidden behind the star (one end) and overlapping with the skirt top (the other end).
Image is again showing the stars and strips from the previous photo. This time; however, a red circle of fabric is covering it up.
I grabbed one of my red scraps of fabric and confirmed it covered all the background between the stars and the strips.
Image shows the layout now with the red fabric a half circle so it's more even with the skirt top. Above it sits the remaining fabric and my fabric scissors.
I then trimmed the excess fabric from the top and confirmed that the red wouldn’t peek out the bottom.
Image shows the skirt with the final layout carefully placed overtop. The slit is no longer viewable but the one strip blends in with the yellow swirl behind it.
I carefully laid out how I wanted the final emblem to look with red fabric laid down first, then the yellow strips, and finally the star.

With the final layout decided I carefully pinned and clipped the layers in place so they wouldn’t shift before taking it over to my sewing machine. I decided to keep the yellow thread in my machine, from sewing the star and strips, and thus topstitched along the edge of the yellow fabric only. These stitches would also fix the red fabric, overlapped under the yellow, in place. I started by sewing along the top of either strip by starting at the top edge, sewing until I met the star, locking the stitch, lifting my pressure foot, moving my fabric so the needle is on the other side, and sewing up the other side of the strip to the skirt edge. I started here so the red fabric would be locked into place, along it’s bottom edge, and I could remove all the sewing clips keeping the top in place. With that done I sewed along the edges of the star locking both of the strips’ edges underneath. Finally I repeated my process from the top of the strips and secured the bottom edge by topstitching along it.

Image shows the fabric laid out with several pins keeping the strips and star in place. The top edge has sewing clips keeping it secure.
Without jostling the fabric I carefully used pins, on the interior, and sewing clips, on the edges, to keep the fabric in place on the way to the sewing machine.
Image shows me sewing the bottom of the left strip. In front of the foot sits a sewing pin along with three others along that and the other strip. There's visible topstitching along the edge of the star and the top of either strip.
I carefully sewed along the top of both strips, slightly moving each pin as I came across it, so the strips would remain secure and I could still topstitch the edge. I then removed the clips before topstitching around the entire star. With that done it was time to topstitch the bottom of the strips.

At one point in this process I realized the slit would gape open underneath the red fabric so I used a wide zigzag stitch to close the slit and keep it in place. I didn’t keep track of the slit’s facing while sewing so at one point I noticed it had bunched up under the star’s stitching. I left it as it was but next time I could see using some dissolving hem tape or something to keep the facing in place as I sewed and thus there would be no bunching.

Image shows the back side of the skirt's front (previously dress back). Here you can see the blue facing, bunched at the bottom, along with the yellow zigzag stitch, at the slit, and along the star and strips' edges.
From the back you can see the yellow topstitching better along with the zigzag stitch used to close the slit. At one point the facing, from the slit, got bunched up so it can be seen bunched at the star’s top point when looked at from the inside.
Image shows the skirt laid flat with the underside of the front peeking above the right side of the back above. You can see a clip marking either side of the skirt.
I didn’t trim any of the excess fabric peeking over the top of the skirt’s raw edge since I was planning on serging the waistband later and the serger would trim it for me as a I sewed.

I then followed a free tutorial, found on the Candy Castle Pattern’s website, to add a waistband to the skirt. You can check out my previous post if you want more information about this process. And with that I was done! I love how the final Peppermint Swirl skirt looks and it wasn’t that much work since the skirt itself was already made, along with the rest of the dress, a while back.

Image shows a closeup of the emblem showing it's vertical wrinkling hiding how it should look. Above it the red waistband is flat.
This wasn’t so much an issue per se but I figured I’d share it in case it bugs you. I had gathered, using my sewing clips, the skirt to the waistband along it’s entire circumference including where Captain Marvel inspired emblem was. This means the logo is crinkled up near the top so next time, I might, keep the emblem area ungathered so it lays flat under the waistband instead.
Image shows a flat lay of the skirt with the entire emblem at the bottom, the open waistband in the upper half, and the skirt swirls reaching out. The photo is cropped to not show the excess swirls.
And with that the skirt was finished! I love how it turned out!.

And with that I had created a Captain Marvel inspired skirt using an old outgrown Peppermint Swirl dress, a free tutorial, and some fabric scraps. I love it! If you want more information about how I altered the free tutorial since I was upcycling the dress you can check out my previous post here. Have you ever upcycled a Peppermint Swirl dress to make a skirt? If so how did you hide the slit from the placket? Are you planning on using this Captain Marvel inspired idea? If so what do, or did, you plan to add it to? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below whether this post inspired you to make something or not. Hope you’re having an amazing day!


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