So, you want to make a halloween costume for a Little in your life, but you don’t want to spend hours making something they will wear once? I feel you. Enter the sweatshirt-hat combo: cute and cozy outfit to keep them warm on a brisk Halloween night that can be worn for months afterward!
Sweatshirt + hat = Cozy Halloween Costume
By whipping up a quick fuzzy sweatshirt (about 2.5 hours start to finish) and then pairing it with a coordinating animal hat (about 1.5 hours or less), you can successfully DIY a costume for the Little in your life—be it a niece, nephew, grandchild, or friend’s kid—that will keep them warm not only on Oct 31st but also through the coming months! This option is great for us in the North who have the chance of pretty inclement and chilly weather by the end of October. (Remember the two inches of snow in Michigan in 2019?) Plus, this feels like a great way to have your makes be slightly more sustainable and get you more bang for your buck.
Sweatshirt and Bonnet Patterns
For this project, I used two patterns:
Sweatshirt by Oh Me Oh My Sewing Patterns
Lamb Bonnet by Purl Soho (free) - Pattern add-on: download a template for fox ears.
These are not paid links or sponsorships. They are just patterns I have found great! Definitely poke around the other patterns on the Oh Me Oh My website, because there are some darling patterns over there.
Pattern Amendments for Other Animals
The free bonnet pattern by Purl Soho that I used has pattern pieces for lamb ears, but you can easily adjust the ears to make a bear, cat, puppy, fox, or other. I have included a downloadable template above for the fox ears I made, as well as a template for bear ears and cat ears. For ears that you want to stand up, like cats and foxes, I would suggest using some interfacing. Cut a piece of interfacing that is smaller than your fabric pieces and tuck this into the ear after you have sewn the edge and right-sided it out. Full disclosure: I used a pretty heavy interfacing and ended up breaking the needle on my serger since you’re sewing through two layers of interfacing + six layers of fabric once you fold the ear in half and tuck it into the bonnet seam. So, I guess go for heavy interfacing but not too heavy.
Download my Unofficial Pattern Add-on with templates for fox, cat, and bear ears.
Materials
Lamb Costume
white sherpa fabric (mine was from Hobby Lobby)
some scrap peach-colored quilting cotton (mine was from a previous Dear Stella collection)
Fox Costume
redish sherpa fabric (mine was from Hobby Lobby)
white sherpa fabric (mine was from Hobby Lobby)
heavy-weight interfacing for the fox ears
I am not putting links here because I know offerings come and go from these big box stores. Joann also has comparable sherpa options if you’re wanting to use one of their many coupons, and I’ve heard good things about the sherpa fabric available from Stash Fabrics.
Add Some Pants
To round out the outfit, a pair of leggings or fuzzy matching pants could be perfect. Here are a couple more patterns to consider:
Pocket Joggers (size 0–6yo) by Oh Me Oh My Sewing Patterns
Hudson Pants (size 2T–10yo) by True Bias
Check out this fuzzy pair of Hudson pants on the True Bias instagram account for inspiration
Comment below if you have a favorite pattern for children’s leggings or pants!
Satisfying Weekend Project
I had so much fun stitching up these cozy and cute costumes; I hope you do too. I would love to see what you guys make, so tag me if you post to Instagram @LovelyandEnough or send me a picture via email or Instagram DM.
