Dressing up is fun! There's no doubt about it. From babies to kids, teens to adults and even some adventurous elders, we all love a light giggle from time to time and what better way then dressing up in fancy dress. Through fancy dress, we express our humor, our creativity, our personality and our damn right silliness. Let's face it, it's great to dress up, so why pay a fortune when you can make your own for less than half the price and for twice the amount of fun!.
I decided to make my own costume for my son who was taking part in a sponsored walk for charity with his Pre-School. Money was tight so after searching for costumes online and seeing how high the general prices were, I knew I had to get creative and find a cheaper option. The theme was animals so I had a good starting point.
Deciding what costume to make
Having a theme to start with does make choosing a costume easier but if you don't, then just research some ideas first; maybe you've seen a costume you like but want to adapt it. My advice is to choose something easy and simple, especially if this is your first time hand making a costume, as it was mine.
As my theme was animals, I searched for animal costumes online and came across some foam animal masks, there were lots to choose from and quite reasonably priced too. I could have simply bought one of these but as I like to make things and had some craft foam already in my craft caddy, I decided to creatively challenge myself. However, of course, if you're not the creative type, buying one is not cheating; you're still making the rest of the costume and for half the price, so, be pleased with your cost efficient plans.
Materials and tools needed to make a cow costume
Mask
- Cow's face template
- 4 sheets of craft foam (white, pink, black and brown)
- Pen or pencil
- Elastic (length dependant on the size of wearer's head)
- Glue
- Scissors
- Cutting blade, cutting board
Costume
- 100+cm x 40-50cm cow print fabric. (These measurements are based on a costume for a 4 year old. If you're making a costume for an older/taller child or even an adult, the size of the fabric will need to be increased to fit the wearer).
- Cotton wool
- Pair of pink rubber gloves
- 2 Elastic bands
- Scissors
- Needle and thread
- Sewing pins
Making a cow mask
If your braving it like I did and want to make the mask yourself, well done, it's easier than you think, and so much fun. If you're not an artist and cannot free draw a cow face, as I couldn't, then simply find a picture of a cow's face to base your mask on. I chose to print out a picture of a cow mask from the internet and draw around it.
- Place the picture of the cow face on top of the white craft foam and draw over the outline of the cows face (including the eyes) pressing hard so that it indents the foam beneath.
- Take away the picture and draw over the indentation line.
- You now have a cow's face outline on the white foam.
- Cut out the shape from the foam with the scissors.
- Use the cutting blade and cutting board to remove the eye holes.
- You now have a blank cow shape face with eye holes. Peek-a-boo.
- Cut shapes from the brown foam to fill the ears and create a nose plate.
- Cut shapes from the black foam to fit around the face, ears and eyes (my template also had black curls for the hair)
- Cut two oval shapes from the pink foam to create nostrils.
- Glue all shapes into place (see cow mask photo)
- Pierce a hole into either side of the cow's face, just under the ears.
- Thread the elastic through each hole and tie in a knot at both sides.
- Your mask is now complete. Excellent work!
- Test it out on your wearer, does it fit? Well done.
Making a cow costume
After the successful completion of your cow mask, you should feel really proud; it looks great doesn't it. Now it's time for the rest of the costume.
- Cut a strip of material from the width of the cow print fabric.
- Roll this strip up with cotton wool inside and sew together from one end all the way down, leaving a gap (around 8th length of strip) unsewn from the other end.
- Cut this remaining piece into random strips but do not cut them off as they will form the cow's tail tassels (I also added black fabric scraps I had lying around)
- Sew all tassels into place and finish the ends off so that no cotton wool hangs out.
- You now have a cow's tail. Yay! Put this to one side.
- Fold the remaining fabric in half lengthways.
- Cut a curve (2/3 long) from the middle of the fold, this will be the head hole.
- Put the costume over the head of the intended wearer and pin in position under each arm, leaving enough room for freedom and movement.
- Remove costume from the model and sew together on each side where pinned, creating arm holes.
- Put working costume to the side.
- Fill each of the rubber gloves with cotton wool, leaving the thumbs empty.
- Once both gloves are packed, tie both together with elastic bands, one tying the thumbs together and one tying both gloves together at the wrists.
- Cut any remaining glove off above the wrist band.
- Cut a horizontal central line in the fabric 10-20cm from the bottom, insert the udders and sew into place (ensure the thumbs are pointing inwards)
- Sew the tail into place at the rear, ensuring that it won't drag on the floor when costume is being worn (this is the mistake I made and the tassels got very dirty!)
- You now have a completed cow costume. How exciting!
This costume is basic but very effective as well as cost efficient and there's no doubting how cute and funny it looks on. My son loved wearing his and he stood out among his pre-school friends as it was so unique. I was very proud with what I made, it felt so satisfying to think that he looked great and I didn't need to squeeze my wallet; just make a creative effort. I hope if you choose to make your own costume or if you have done so already, that you feel just as proud as me; it's a great achievement and it's such a great idea to save money.
Kathryn Eakers - I'm 26, married with a son and pregnant with a daughter. Being a full time mother/house wife and a committee/fundraising member for my ...
