October 24, 2011

DIY Octopus Costume



After several years of large costumes that I could never actually drive to a party in (hello, changing on the side of the road!), I decided to cool it one year with a wearable, but still crafty, octopus costume. You can buy or DIY many elements of this one depending on your skill level or budget. The bendable legs will be the major focal point of this costume – just think of the amazing hugs you can give with all of those arms!

What You Need
Aqua/Blue dress with sleeves
Blue sequined fabric
White felt
Wire & wire cutters
Stuffing
Hot glue gun
Sewing machine or needle & thread

How to Make It
1. Start with a blue or aqua dress (or whatever color you want your octopus to be!). I made mine from scratch from a pattern I drafted and included several shades of ocean-inspired colors as well as satin, sequins and sparkle. On the underside of the 2 sleeves cut out and hot glue or sew circles of white felt about the diameter of a quarter. Your arms will serve as 2 of the octopus legs.



2. To make the skirt of octopus legs, cut out 6 semi-V shaped pieces of the blue sequined fabric. Mine were about 9” wide on the top and 3” wide at the tip and 17” in length. Hot glue a length of wire vertically down the center of each piece.

3. You have 2 options here: I folded the V-shaped pieces in half with the “right” sides touching and then stitched the entire side edge and bottom tip. I then inverted the cone shaped piece to have a clean seam, but inverting them was tough with the wire inside so you could also hand sew the seam with a hidden stitch instead. Your call.

4. When the shapes are sewn with just an open top, fill them with the stuffing until they are completely full except for a 1” section left empty at the top. Fold this 1” section over twice and stitch, closing off the leg.

5. Cut out and glue more white felt circles to the underside of each leg. Cut a length of the blue sequined fabric long enough to tie around your waist. Stitch each leg onto the belt by the top “tab” hem, making sure they are evenly spaced out down the length of the belt. Bend each leg in a different curled position to look extra octopus-y.

6. Tie the belt over the dress and wear with black tights, aqua shoes and blue eye makeup.



Done – you’re the prettiest thing under the sea!

1 comment:

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