Halloween Costumes • Halloween Patterns • Sew Halloween Costumes
Costume Patterns
Retrofitting Halloween Costumes
Halloween Costumes, Quick & Easy!
We’ve highlighted some fabrics that don’t fray
when cut
and don't need seam finishing.
The existing outfit
Sleeper (baby or toddler),
Sweat Suit (baby to teen)
The Added Pieces
These provide a great blank canvas to make a bear, cat, dog, or any other animal costume. The insulating nature of the fabric keeps your kids warm in the cool autumn air.
Click for directions to make additional pieces such as padded hoods with ears and tails to complete a costume.
The existing outfit
Long Johns (baby to teen),
One- or two-piece tights or leotards (baby to teen)
The Added Pieces
These are great basic pieces for making fairy, elf, vampire, or any other costume that needs a fitted look.
Click for directions to make additional pieces such as wings, leaf or petal skirts, or capes to complete a costume.
The existing outfit
Basic T-Tunic
The Added Pieces
This tunic is easy to make and can be customized for an Indian, vampire, Grim Reaper, or ghost. Click for directions to make the costume and customize it.
Create an impressive head for your costume with a padded hood. Foam, sewn between the outer layer and lining, helps support the hood and any other items attached to it. Since it does not cover the face, a padded hood allows a full range of vision.
Fabrics such as faux fur make a great choice for animal costumes, and oilcloth works well for flower hoods.
Materials
- Fabric, for hood
- Matching or contrasting fabric, for lining
- Foam, 1/4" thick, for interlining
- Hook and loop tape
- Drawstring cording
- Materials for ears, horns, eyes, or antennae
- Macrame cording; 10" cardboard template, for hood with lion mane. Yarn makes a good substitute.
- Fleece, for hood with dragon spikes
- Silicone lubricant, for ease in sewing over foam
Click the links above for supplies.
Instructions
- Place the tracing paper over a 1" grid. Draw full-size pattern for hood. Cut fabric, lining, and foam pieces. Transfer mark for end of casing to hood.
- Pin the hood piece, right side up, to the foam piece; baste 3/8" from raw edges. Repeat for the remaining piece.
- Stitch hood pieces, right sides together, along top and center back, stitching 1/2" from raw edges. Trim seam allowances to 1/4". Apply silicone lubricant under presser foot and on bed of machine, if desired, to help foam feed evenly.
- Cut 2" strip of fabric for casing, with length equal to the front opening between marks plus 1". fold under 1'" on ends of casing strip; fold strip in half lengthwise. Pin strip around front opening of hood between marks. Baste casing to hood 3/8" from raw edges.
- Fold closure underlap piece in half crosswise; stitch 1/4" seams along edges perpendicular to fold. Turn right side out; press. Pin to left side of hood, right sides together, just under casing. Baste 3/8" from raw edges.
- Stitch hood lining pieces, right sides together, along the top and center back seam, stitching 1/2" from raw edges. Trim seam allowances to 1/4".
- Pin hood to lining, right sides together, around front and bottom edges. Stitch 1/2" from raw edges, leaving an opening at bottom for turning. Trim seam allowances; clip corners. Turn right side out; press lightly. Slipstitch opening closed. Topstitch along lower edge.
- Cut two pieces of hood and loop tape to length of closure underlap. Stitch loop tape to right side of underlap. Stitch hook tape to lining side of hood at corresponding location. Thread drawstring cording through casing, using a bodkin or safety pin. Make and attach head features as desired.
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A cape is a theatrical and very versatile costume element. Distinguished royalty, wizards, and magicians or even witches can benefit from the use of a cape.
In its simplest form, a cape is a circle of fabric, cut out and tied at the neck, and open down the front. When cost and time are factors, an inexpensive cape can be made with minimal sewing, using felt. Either cape style can be made with or without collar, and both are secured at the neck with ribbon ties.
For a cape, cut a square of fabric twice the desired length of the cape plus about three inches. For the collar, cut one rectangle.
Materials
- Fabric, for hood
- Matching or contrasting fabric, for lining
- Foam, .25" thick, for interlining
- Hook and loop tape
- Drawstring cording
- Materials for ears, horns, eyes, or antennae
- Macrame cording; 10" cardboard template, for hood with lion mane. Yarn makes a good substitute
- Fleece, for hood with dragon spikes
- Silicone lubricant, for ease in sewing over foam
Click the links above for construction supplies.
Instructions
- Fold square of fabric for cape in half lengthwise, then crosswise. Measure around base of neck. Divide measurement by 3.14; then divide result by 2 to find the radius. Mark an arc on fabric, for neck opening, measuring from folded center of fabric a distance equal to radius, using straightedge and pencil.
- Mark an arc for lower edge of cape, measuring from folded center of fabric a distance equal to the desired length of cape plus measurement of radius determined in Step 1, plus 1/2" for seam allowance at lower edge.
- Cut on marked lines. Cut along one folded edge: this will be center front opening of cape.
- Measure distance around the neck edge of cape from center front to center front, 1/2" from the neck edge. Cut rectangle for the collar from fabric , measuring this length by desired width; collar width, not including 1/2" seam allowances, can range from 2.5" to 4".
- Staystitch around neck edge of cape fabric, 3/8" from raw edges. Clip neck edges of outer cape to staystitching. Pin-mark center of collar along raw edges and center back neck edge of cape.
- Pin collar to cape along neck edge, right sides up, positioning ends of collar even with center front edges and matching pin marks. Stitch collar to cape, 1/2" from edges. Trim seam allowances to scant 1/4".
- Cut bias tape to length of seam allowances around neck opening plus 1". Open one fold of bias tape. Pin bias tape to wrong side of cape along neck edge, aligning tape foldline to stitching line; extend bias tape 1/2" beyond edges at center front. Stitch on foldline.
- Turn under 1/2" of bias tape at each end. Fold bias tape over seam allowances; pin. Stitch close to tape edge, encasing seam allowances. Finger-press encased seam allowances toward cape; pin.
- Cut ribbon for ties to desired length. Turn under 1/2" on one short end; pin to cape front, 1/2" from edge at center front, centering over neck seam. Stitch tie to cape, close to edges and along edge at center front as shown.
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Skirts are often a primary costume element. The leaf or petal skirt is constructed with foam for a firm, padded appearance. Design lines can be stitched onto the leaves to create veins.
Materials
- .25 inch foam, for petal or leaf interlining
- Waisband elastic, one inch wide
- Hook and loop tape
Bat wings: This wing can be made from black pleather, giving a very realistic look with no seam finishing or fraying. The wings button to the costume along the lower edge of the sleeve and down the side of the base garment. This allows ease for stretching the arms outward and the patterns is flexible to adjust the spacing between the scallops along the outer edges of the wings, helping to determine the best placement of the buttons for securing the wings in place.
It is not necessary to space all the button holes at equal distances from each other - you may wish to space them closer together along the sleeve and upper body and farther apart along the leg. It may also be helpful to space two buttonholes close together at the underarm area to secure the wing close to the garment at this point.
Padded wings can be used for costumes such as angels, birds, butterflies, or other winged creatures. The wings are designed with a layer of foam between layers of fabric. Wire may be stitched around the outer seam allowances to help support the shapes of the wings.
Wings can be made in a variety of ways - sewn directly onto the back of another part of the costume, or detachable using hook and loop tape. Another option is using an elastic harness that fits over the shoulders and is sewn onto the wings. When worn with a gown, an opening in the back of the gown allows the harness to be hidden.
Bat Wing Materials
- Black pleather, one of two contrasting fabrics, used for the wing backs
- Ribbons
- Buttons
Padded Wing Materials
- Fabric for wings and optional for wing overlays
- Foam, .25" thick, for padded wings
- Silicon lubricant, optional, for ease in sewing over foam
- 19-gauge wire for wings with wired edges
- Hook and loop tape, optional for attaching wings
- Elastic, .5" wide, for harness
Click the links above for construction supplies.
Instructions
- Draw line on paper with length equal to measurement from underarm to ankle. At ankle end, draw 1.25" line (b) perpendicular to line (a). At underaarm end, draw line (c) perpendicular to line (a), with length equal to measurement from underarm to wrist.
- Draw line (d) from underarm, at a 45 degree angle from line (c), with same length as line (c). Draw lines connecting endpoints of lines (b), (c), and (d), for outer edge of wing pattern.
- Determine desired scallop spacing of lower section of outer edge, planning scallop widths of 6" to 8", with lowest scallop slightly smaller than others. Draw scallops in lower section, drawing lowest scallop to marked point on line (b).
- Draw one of two scallops along line for upper section of outer edge, from marked point to corner; for small size, draw one scallop; for larger size, divide section into two scallops. Disregard unnecessary lines along outer edge.
- Add 5/8" extension along inner straight edge of wing pattern. Cut out pattern.
- Fold wing, front sides together, from underarm to first point on outer edge of wing; press fold. Stitch close to fold, making a pin tuck. Repeat for all but the last point on outer edge of wing.
- Pin ribbon to front side of wing. along inner straight edges, from wrist to ankle, pinning a tick at underarm and turning under about 3/8" at each end. Stitch close to edges of ribbon.
- Mark placement of buttonholes on ribbon, spacing as necessary to hold wing securely to garment. Make buttonholes.
- Try on costume; mark button positions. Stitch buttons to costume.
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Make a costume look more lifelike by adding a faux fur tail or stinger. Sew a long, thin tail with an optional contrasting tip or a thicker, padded tail with spikes, suitable for a dragon or dinosaur. Make a striped bee stinger to add impact to a bumble-bee costume. Tails and stingers can be sewn to the back of the costume.
Materials
- Faux fur, for contrasting tip on narrow tail
- Fleece, for shaped tail with spikes
- .25" foam, for interlining
- Silicone lubricant, for ease in sewing over foam, optional
- .5" cording, for narrow tail
- 19-gauge wire, available at hardware stores, for wired narrow tail
- Polyester fiberfil, for shaped tail or stinger
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- Measure person wrist to wrist and neck to the desired hemline.
- Add three inches to hemline measurement and double the length.
- Cut material to measurements and fold in quarters - fold wrist to wrist first, then hem to hem.
- Cut hole for the head three inches along the top fold and two inches down center front/back fold.
- Cut the rest of the costume to desired pattern (at left.)
- Finish off neckline by turning under and sewing down or by applying seam binding - for fabrics that fray on the cut only.
- Sew sleeve and side seams.
- Finish off with the desired effects.
Directions for hood
- Cut one piece seven inches by 12 inches with a curve along one edge.
- Sew back of head seam and gather along the bottom.
- Sew to neckline for desired effect.
Customizing
Indian
Male: Using tan fabric, cut basic tunic along lines marked #1.
Female: Cut along #2 hem line and #1 sleeve line.
Vampire: Cut along diagonal (#2) and V the hem and sleeves.
Grim Reaper: Using black fabric, cut a long dress (hem #3), use #2 sleeves, and add hood.
Ghost: Cut long dress (Hem #3). Sew only the sleeve seam (#3) and tatter the rest, attach hood. Wear over black.
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