A first costume should be as cute and cuddly as the wearer, and one made of feathers, wool, even scales, when sewn in quilted felt, will be just that. Use the simple soft designs here to ensure that your little one is adorable in her new skin.
Costume Safety
As you conjure up disguises for your child this Halloween, here are some guidelines to keep in mind:
1. Children should not wear masks, which can obstruct their vision, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.
2. If you decide to use makeup as part of your child's disguise, use only nontoxic, hypoallergenic face paints.
3. By law, store-bought costumes must be flame-retardant; if you plan to make your child's costume yourself, use flame-resistant fabrics such as wool felt and polyester.
4. Because our costumes were assembled from household materials, they do not conform to all of the safety requirements that store-bought costumes do; babies wearing them should be supervised by an adult at all times.
5. Make sure all shoes fit properly and that oversize pants and skirts are trimmed so your toddler won't trip over them.
6. If you plan to take your child trick-or-treating after dark, affix reflective tape to everyone's costume and carry a flashlight.
Chicken
Why did this baby chicken cross the road? To get to the Halloween party, of course. Her costume is made from two tickly feather boas, ordinary kitchen gloves, yellow tights, and a pilot's cap that's crowned with a felt comb. Under the plumage, two leotards are stuffed with batting for extra plumpness. Appropriate for children ages 3 and older.
Tools and Materials
2 white long-sleeved leotards
One bag of loose wool batting
2 heavyweight white feather boas
Safety pins
Two 8-by-10-inch pieces of red wool felt
White pilot's cap
Hot-glue gun
Yellow rubber gloves
Sneakers with a heel tab
Chicken How-To
1. For the bodysuit, place one leotard inside the other; stuff batting between them, and sew together at necklines and leg holes. With your child wearing the bodysuit, drape boas across and around the body; safety-pin in place. Remove costume from child, and handstitch in place every 4 inches.
2. For the hat, use the comb template to cut two pieces of felt. Stitch combs together with a 1/4-inch seam allowance, leaving the bottom open. Turn right side out; stuff peaks with batting. Stretch hat over a ball or other round object; attach comb using the hot-glue gun on a low setting.
3. For the feet, stuff fingers of gloves with batting. Slip sneaker into glove, palm side down. Pull glove taut so fingers arch up (to prevent tripping); cut slit in center of glove from tongue of shoe to heel tab. Pull end of slit beneath heel. Snip extra cuff, leaving 2 inches; cut a notch at each corner. Fold sides in; secure with hot glue. Fold bottom up and top down; glue.
Hi I have adjusted this Chicken costume to Purim (Jewish Halloween) and it fantastic! my little one 15 months old look so adorable.... thanks :)
Oh crap! I'm STILL working on the lamb suit! Will I be done in time! Not a great last minute outfit! But it sure is looking cute.
Does anyone have any insight on what exactly across and around entails for the spring chicken costume? Seems so simple but i cannot figure this out.
The leotard the lamb costume calls for is a bit more than what I want to spend on a costume so I improvised with a white T shirt, replacing sleeves using the legs of footless black tights. The bottoms are black sweatpants. I made a white beanie cap to attach the ears because I couldn't find an already made hat. I already had batting around. Thanks to having a stash of fabric for making the ears and hat, and having batting, the other supplies only cost me about $8.
We made the lamb costume today.. took 3 of us 5 hours!! End result very much worth it, it looks fantastic! We added extra fluff onto the bottoms of the leggings and a little tail out of the batting. We ended up using polyester batting as it was fluffier looking.. but very conscious of the fire hazard! Terrific costume.
The chicken costume is very cute, but I improvised. The leotards did not work well (or I did it wrong!) and figured there had to be a better way for what we needed. My daughter was 3 when I made this for her, and I used a white cardigan to tack the boas onto (3 of them). She wore a long-sleeve white turtleneck underneath which kept the boas from scratching. We got the cap from Hanna Andersson. She wore orange pants (Target). The sweater worked great - easy to put on and take off.
We found pilot's caps thru Hanna Anderson on sale and used Target's onesies in lieu of leotards to save a little money. (We did the chicken.Also, because I'm not such a great seamstress, we used "fabric fusion" glue to secure the two onesies together and also for the felt hat--saved a TON of time (and one tube of it did two costumes--we did a hen and a rooster for our little ones.) The only part we had to sew was to tack the boas in place. I LOVE this costume--I can't wait for them to wear it.
I'm trying to make this lamb costume. Does anyone have tips on getting the batting right? I've found that three inches extra on each side is not enough, and am about to start over witha larger allowance of batting. If anyone has gotten their batting to look as fluffy and woolly as the picture, please share your tips. I'm making it on a white onsie for a 21-month-old. Plan to cut off the onesie sleeves and sew in black sleeves to make it less hot.
I am thinking about trying this; it seems difficult.
I am thinking about trying this; it seems difficult.
The pilot's cap can be found at Hannah Anderson (they are usually only in major cities but they have a website). I got mine on sale for $6, they fit a little snug so if your child has a big head I would go a size up. My daughter is 13 months and the small fit her perfectly. I am using long sleeve onsies in leu of the leotards in an effort to spend less.
I finally located the pilot's caps. You can find them at Hanna Andersson
http://www.hannaandersson.com/
This is really cute and doesn't take all that long to make. I would recommend buying leotards in a size larger than your child's normal size. I used the correct size and could barely stuff her in the costume once it had been stuffed. Figured nearly $70 for this costume. And good luck finding a "pilots cap". I ended up with a Zutano white skull cap.
You can find the leotards at any specialty dance/gymnastics stores. They should have all colors and longsleeves since its fall. You can also try the major dance brand websites like Capezio or Danskin.
You can find the leotards at any specialty dance/gymnastics stores. They should have all colors and longsleeves since its fall. You can also try the major dance brand websites like Capezio or Danskin.
The lamb is really cute, but the face paint shouldn't just be a little dot. It should cover the bottom part of their nose. It will look more real. Don't think I don't love the costume it's really adorable. Just wanted to let everyone know because I'm the crazy sheep girl :)
The lamb is really cute, but the face paint shouldn't just be a little dot. It should cover the bottom part of their nose. It will look more real. Don't think I don't love the costume it's really adorable. Just wanted to let everyone know because I'm the crazy sheep girl :)
The lamb is really cute, but the face paint shouldn't just be a little dot. It should cover the bottom part of their nose. It will look more real. Don't think I don't love the costume it's really adorable. Just wanted to let everyone know because I'm the crazy sheep girl :)
The lamb is really cute, but the face paint shouldn't just be a little dot. It should cover the bottom part of their nose. It will look more real. Don't think I don't love the costume it's really adorable. Just wanted to let everyone know because I'm the crazy sheep girl :)
The lamb is really cute, but the face paint shouldn't just be a little dot. It should cover the bottom part of their nose. It will look more real. Don't think I don't love the costume it's really adorable. Just wanted to let everyone know because I'm the crazy sheep girl :)
I'm having a really hard time finding long sleeve white leotards. Any suggestions?
How cute! At first I thought they were little baby vultures.
How cute! At first I thought they were little baby vultures.
Where would i find the pilot's cap?