DIY Peacock Costume

So excited to share with you this darling Peacock Halloween Costume.
Usually my daughter goes for spooky or scary see HERE and HERE.

Last year when we were brainstorming costume ideas my daughter bounced around a lot of ideas and eventually landed on peacock -- due mostly to the fact that she had just been on a field trip to a farm and owned her very own peacock feather.

I searched around for some good ideas for a peacock and couldn't find anything that suited my fancy-- a lot of them were Va-va-voom, NO thanks!  And a few were not quite what I had inmind.

So, I stewed for weeks and weeks trying to figure out a good plan for this costume.

I happened to be in my sewing scrap pile, looking for something else, when I came across this maxi dress (purchased from Wal-mart several years ago).  I wore it twice when I was pregnant and everyone commented on how HUGE I was.  It was quickly thrown in the scrap pile after the baby was born.

Once I saw it, while still mulling over peacock ideas in my head, it quickly spoke to me--
 REUSE-- REFASHION -- PEACOCK!




I almost used the entire dress for the costume and it worked perfectly!
Here's how to make your own!

MATERIALS:
1. Maxi dress or green knit fabric
2. Sewing supplies
3. Thick poster board
4. Glue gun
5. Acrylic paint + brush
6. Headband, pipe cleaners, three puff balls.

STEP ONE:  Cut the dress where needed. 
 I cut the bottom for the feathers.  I left the top for the skirt. 
 And I reused the straps.


 STEP TWO:  With right sides together, cut out the feathers. 
 Pin the pieces together.  
Do a quick sew around the feathers from the left side to the right side, leaving the bottom open.  
Clip all the curved edges, so they will turn properly.

STEP THREE: Turn right side out and make sure everything looks good. 


STEP FOUR:  Using the sewn feathers as a guide, cut out the insert feathers from a thick poster board. 
I had a leftover poster board from the dollar store, which I reused, with lots of creative cutting and taping, plus a little cardboard for that one chunk that I ran out of poster board.


STEP FIVE: Using your model, determine where the four holes should be for the straps, using a knife or scissors, cut out the strap holes.
Place the cardboard inside the knit feathers, hopefully everything is a perfect fit! 

 STEP SIX:  Sketch out the feathers and base, where they belong. 

I used this image for help.

STEP SEVEN: Start painting!
 I used acrylic craft paint that dries really fast and it worked great!  
You can see my order below. 



I left it to dry over night, then the next day I flipped it over and did the exact same painting on the other side.

STEP EIGHT:  Once everything has dried.  Feel the straps that you cut out of the poster board, and use scissors to cut four (front and back) slits into the fabric.


 STEP NINE: Cut off the two straps, measure them with your model to make sure they'll fit.
Place them in the slits, pushing through the poster board, hot glue them against the backside of the board.  Repeat for the other strap. 

STEP TEN: Fold in the bottom of the fabric and hot glue down together.
For me, I had too long of poster board, so I had to cut off the excess, so it could fold it up and glue it down.

STEP ELEVEN: Make some simple peacock feather for the head.
I used a headband we already had, hot glued some puffballs to some sparkly pipe cleaners, wrapped them around the headband and called it good.  
She loved it!



All done!

Wa-HOO, Party!  Cutest little Peacock ever!
 Love this girl of mine!

The whole crew!


Halloween is so fun!  What are your plans this year?

We're going with a family theme-- My FAVORITE! 
Better get started!

Comments

Connie said…
Oh my goodness, she is adorable and the costume you made is delightful. She is blessed to have such a talented Mommy :)

Popular Posts