Kids’ Costumes
Children love to dress up as their favourite characters from story books or movies. The good news from Rita Hill is that these kids’ costumes are so easy to make you won’t even have to touch a sewing machine.
Basic materials
- scissors fabric (twice the measured length of Woodland Fairy, step 1: ie, 120cm for fairy, 160cm for Obi, 220cm for cape) or just use an old sheet 4m cord or ribbon
- 2-litre plastic drink bottle
- hole puncher paper fasteners
- glitter paint flowers elastic (enough to wrap around child’s head or waist, depending on outfit)
- felt (one small square of each colour to be used)
Woodland Fairy
1. Measure from the child’s mid-thigh to neck. For our little girl, it was 60cm. The skirt needs to be short so the fairy can frolic and dance with ease.
2. On the centre of the fabric, widthways, measure up this amount and make a mark. Then cut a slit for the neck.
3. Cut zig zags along the bottom for extra decoration.
4. Tie cord around the waist so the outfit stays in place.
Obi-Wan Kenobi
Use an old pair of cream cargo pants or long johns to wear on the bottom, as well as long, brown socks with the feet cut out at the ankles to make Obi’s boots. Make a wool plait and attach it to the boy’s hair.
1.The basics are the same as for the fairy outfit. So, once again, measure from the child’s neck to mid-thigh. In this case, it was 80cm.
2. Calico is ideal for Obi outfits. On the centre of the fabric, widthways, measure up this amount (80cm) and make a mark. Then cut a slit, either adding a V, or slit it all the way down for a wrap top.
3. Fold the fabric in half and cut the bottom off again. Also cut a wide strip to wrap around the waist (or use a thick, brown belt around the waist).
Cape: to make Obi’s cape, use either a cheap knitted fabric or felt, so it won’t need hemming (an old blanket would work here). Apply the same technique used for making the girl’s dress, but with the split from the neck. It also needs to be longer, so it falls to the floor.
Xena
Skirt: buy half a metre of brown vinyl. This will make both the skirt and boots. Measure the girl’s hips and also the length from waist to thigh. In this case, it was 30cm long and 66cm wide. To make the skirt, punch three holes in the vinyl at each end and tie around the girl’s waist with a long black shoelace or ribbon. Cut a series of long strips to make a swishing skirt that allows movement.
Boots: cut two pieces of brown vinyl the length and width of the girl’s calf: in this case, they were 28cm wide and 30cm long. Punch holes along each side then thread with black laces at the back of the girl’s legs.
Top: make it from a girl’s black crop top. Cut some vinyl feature pieces and either handstitch or glue to secure in place.
Arm bands: make from an old pair of black tights cut up and decorated with fabric paint. Xena’s frisbee was painted with metallic copper paint.
Robin Hood
Use old green towelling or a green tunic dress. Cut to length like the other outfits (see Obi-Wan Kenobi, step 1) and make a zig-zag cut along the bottom of the hem. Add a brown belt around the waist and brown tights, then cut two strips of towelling to wrap around the tights, criss-cross from knee to ankle.
Hat: cut two towelling triangles to fit the child’s head, lay together, then stitch two sides. Turn right side out, fold up edge then glue on a feather.
Batman cape: cut scallops around the edge of a black garbage bag. It’s a throw-away cape, so only make on day of use.
Princess
1. Cut a horizontal slit near the middle of the sheet, big enough to fit a girl’s head through.
2. Place the sheet over the child’s head then arrange it so it trails slightly at the back.
3. With the girl’s arms outstretched, put a 4m length of cord or ribbon around the back of her neck, under her arms then cross in front a couple of times. Tie it in a double knot at the front to secure.
Princess cone hat: cut a large triangle out of cardboard to fit the girl’s head when made into a cone shape. Glue or staple the cone together. Attach a scarf at the pointy end of the hat then paint or decorate the cardboard cone with scraps of braid.
Pirate
Our pirate outfit was bought at St Vinnie’s for just $6. Cut off the trouser legs with a zig-zag edge. Add some striped fabric around the waist and use an old patch from home. You can make an eye patch using black hat elastic and a small piece of leather, vinyl or cardboard.
Dracula
Dracula’s puffy shirt cost $3 from St Vinnie’s, and the pants are the child’s own. Dracula’s cape is made from T-shirt fabric (always use knitted fabric so the cape won’t fray). Use a red cape on the inside and a black cape (same as Batman) on the outside.
Angel wings, fairy crown
Angel wings: you can adapt the princess outfit to become a guardian angel – simply add wings! Make these from wire and pretty coloured pantyhose. Decorate the panty hose with fabric paint then attach elastic loops to secure the wings over the arms.
Woodland fairy crown:
1. Cut the top off a 2-litre soft drink bottle. Then, draw a crown shape with pointy bits, cut around the outline and, using a hole puncher, punch as many holes into the base as you wish.
2. Bend back the pointy bits and mark where the existing holes are before punching some more holes over those markings.
3. To hold the crown’s pointy bits up in the air, secure them with paper fasteners and add some glitter paint.
4. As a finishing touch, thread some little flowers and leaves cut from felt onto a piece of elastic. Use them to decorate around the crown (and around the waist of the fairy outfit).
Further information
These kids’ costumes are also featured in the August 2000 edition of the Burke’s Backyard magazine. Footage from Star Wars, Episode 1 Phantom Menace available to own on video.