Happy Hoot-aween!

Owl Costume Tutorial

I made this costume, last October, for my then 4 year old son. 

Even though I wasn't even thinking about blogging then, I did take photos (just because I'm weird like that.)

I used several large sheets of tan felt, several smaller sheets of dark brown felt, and a sheet each of black, white, and yellow felt.   I also used a simple white mask found at most craft stores, a bag of feathers also found at a craft store, and fabric adhesive.

I started by covering the mask with dark brown as the base.  I then glued on a kite shaped piece of tan and then yellow for the beak and large tan circles for the base of the eyes.   On top of that went the feathers.

 

After that, I made simple ears from triangles of tan, black, and brown.   They were glued on, followed by more layers of circles, which gradually got smaller and varied in color.

The last step for the mask was to add white to the eyes, which I thought helped with the owl look.

For the wings, I actually broke out the sewing machine, but it was super simple.  I 'eyed' the shape I wanted for the wings, and then flipped them, and traced to create identical wings for the other arm.

I glued the pieces on top of one another, and then just traced the top wing on the sewing machine, insuring that the wings would endure a night of hardcore trick or treating.

I unfortunately don't have a photo of this step, but I made a type of harness (more like a cape) out of the tan felt to attach the wings to.   It tied around the neck, which you can sort of see here:

I also attached ties to the arms, so that my son could 'flap' his wings like a real owl.  Again, you can sort of see here, and you can also see the outline from the sewing machine on the wings.

And that is IT!  I put him in a pair of light tan long-johns and called it done.  He looked so adorable, and we received so many compliments.  I debated making covers for his shoes, to look like owl feet, but decided to go without since his own shoes sort of went with it.  Just another idea for you.  :)

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