DIY Costumes: "Too Cute" Puppies!

SUBMITTED BY: ANDREA S

This year for Halloween I ventured into making costumes for my boys. It was a ton of fun, they turned out way cuter than the store bought variety, and they will be the hit of the costume parade!

Each costume is a different design, mainly because I had a hard time finding a white sweatshirt/pants set for my 2 year old. So my oldest is wearing a two piece set, sweatpants and a zip sweatshirt. My youngest costume is a one piece outfit that was made from a women's hooded shirt.

To make a dog costume from a sweatshirt/pants set. You will need:

1 hooded sweatshirt or zip hoodie

matching sweat pants

Fleece (or cheap cotton material)for ears and tail matching sweatshirt color

8x12 blocks of felt (pre-cut from craft section): 3-4 for spots, yellow for dog tag

1 sheet black sticky-back felt (or just regular felt and glue) for name letters on tag

Red Ribbon for collar

Big rings from bead section to attach collar

Sew or Sticky velcro pieces

There are a few ways to construct this costume, sewing or gluing:

Sewing:

Start by constructing the ears & tail. Draw ears onto cotton fabric and sew, with right sides together, along edges leaving the bottom open. Turn right-side out and stuff lightly with fiber fill, just to give a little shape, not stiff. Fold bottom edges in so the raw edges are hidden and stitch across to close. Do the same for the tail, making a longer, narrow tube with a slight taper to a point at the end. Have child put on hoodie and place the ears, on top of the head, slightly forward. Pin in place and machine or hand stitch with a zigzag or a whip stitch to hold in place. Add tail the same way, centering it in the middle of the sweatshirt, just above the bottom cuff/band.

Next are the spots- draw spots onto felt and cut out, making them all different. Remember that felt won't fray, so no need to tuck the edges. Hand stitch, using a blanket stitch all over the hoodie and pants. These can also be sewn on with your machine, but I has having difficulty with the pants, so hand sewing made them all the same.

No-Sew:

Using the fleece, cut two ears. Have child put on the hoodie to place the ears, on the top of the head, slightly forward. Mark or pin in place. Use a glue gun or fabric glue to put them in place. For support you could also pin them in place using a safety pin from the inside.

Shape a tail in the same way, buy cutting it from fleece, long, tapering to a point. If you want to get fancy, you can shape it into a tube, and glue the seam down the side. Attach the same as ears, centering it on the back, just above the bottom cuff/band.

Spots: Cut the spots from the felt, making them different. You can glue these on or fuse them using you fusible webbing (turning them into an iron-on patch). Place them randomly on the sweatshirt and pants.

Finishing:

Dog tag bone: Using a dog bone cookie cutter, or free form, cut out a bone from yellow felt.

Name: I took pre-cut scrapbooking letters and traced them onto the sticky-back felt, and stuck them onto the bone. Other options are: iron on letters, pre-cut felt or foam sticky letters (Michael's) or drawing on with a marker/fabric paint.

Punch a small whole through the top of the bone, keeping away from the edge. Insert a small ring to attach to a bigger ring to attach to the collar. Another thing that worked for me was using bendable, coated wire, used for beading.

Have child put on the hoodie and measure around the neck for the length of the collar. Cut ribbon to length, adding about 1/2 inch on either end to roll under for a clean edge. Attached one side of the ribbon to the center of the hoodie, just below the hood, by gluing or sewing it in place. For the other end, attach velcro pieces, one to the end of the ribbon, and the other to the back of the hoodie. Remember to fold the ribbon edges under because they will fray. Thread the big ring of the dog bone onto the collar and attach the collar with the velcro.

You're now finished. It did take me a few days to finish this, working in the evenings. But it was worth the time! If you are doing the non-sewing method it will be an easy afternoon project. For more easy sweatshirt costumes, check out http://www.parenting.com/ and search no-sew costume. Super cute stuff!

Thanks for having me!

~Andrea

http://www.andreascollay.blogspot.com/

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