A Captain Kale Costume for Halloween

Faster than a speeding Magic Bullet, more powerful than your mom’s stand mixer, he’s one of the founding members of the League of Super Foods. He’s Captain Kale! He’s a super hero who can kick free radical butt and support healthy brain development.

Last week we introduced Captain Kale as a star of Ariel’s Spooky Colorful Halloween party, and this week we’ll show you how to get the look, all the way from the ruffles to the twist tie belt.

This is just the first in our series this week of Halloween costumes for food-lovers (yes, Quinoa Woman is next up!).

All of these costumes are designed to be relatively easy (and not too expensive) to make. None require more than a quick trip to the fabric or hardware store, and some super basic equipment.

Supplies
Long johns
Green fabric dye
1 large old green t-shirt
2 yards of green knit fabric (for cape), such as the shiny green fabric here
4 pipe cleaners (aka chenille stems)
Yellow duct tape
Green athletic shorts
Ruffled kale leaves, for the party

Equipment
Scissors
Needle and thread

1. Dye the long johns with the green fabric dye: The long johns will be the base of the superhero suit. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions for the dye you chose. (Note: If you’re lucky enough to find dark green long johns use those instead!)
2. Create ruffled kale strips out of the t-shirt: To create the ruffled kale texture, cut your old t-shirt into long strips. Stitch loosely down the center of the strip of fabric. Grasp one end of the thread that you used to stitch, and gently slide the fabric down the thread to gather it. Tie the end off.
3. Sew the ruffles to the long johns shirt: Stitch each ruffle to the long underwear shirt. You can arrange them however you like, but I curved mine around to resemble big kale leaves.
4. Make the mask: To make Captain Kale’s mask, cut the sleeve off of your old green t-shirt. Snip out the holes for your eyes. Use t-shirt fabric and scraps from the cape fabric to make more ruffles. Stitch the ruffles into place around the sleeve.
5. Make the superhero cape: The secret of the superhero cape is to use a knit fabric, like this shiny athletic fabric. Knits don’t unravel at the edges, so you won’t have to hem all the way around. Cut your cape fabric into the basic shape above.
6. Make the twist tie belt: To create the twist tie belt, lay out a long strip of duct tape sticky side up. Press the pipe cleaners down the length of the tape. Stick another strip of tape face down on the first one.
7. Put it all together: Long johns go on first, then green athletic shorts. Put on the cape, mask, and belt, and the superhero transformation is complete! Make sure that Captain Kale brings a sheaf of curly kale to the party.

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