Oh you guys, my sewing room is oozing with costume supplies….so don’t be surprised if most of October is dedicated to DIY costumes. But I haven’t quite started with my kids’ real costumes yet….I’ve just been working on a few quick ideas that I wanted to hurry and share before I get to my kids’ actual costume requests (shhh….always a secret!).
Anyway, today’s costume tutorial is actually part of this month’s Michaels Makers challenge for October and is an EASY NO-SEW SPIDER COSTUME….that takes maybe 20 MINUTES to make!!! (And, more info about how I’m giving this one away, down below!)
And let me tell you…..Oliver has been so funny to watch the past few months, playing dress-up with the bigger kids and actually understanding that he’s “pretending” to be something he’s not. (And yep, they STILL all play dress-up — 9 & 10 year old Connor and Ellie included….and I LOVE it!) So, when I started putting this Spider Costume together and told him that this long fuzzy bendable stuff was for SPIDER LEGS, he got so excited!
Then, once he got to try on the finished Spider Costume, he was so giggly and did his best to “pretend”.
Before starting this project, I knew I wanted to make a No-Sew costume, to help those of you who don’t quite feel confident enough to sew a whole outfit…..but still want to DIY a Halloween costume this year! So when I came across this furry bendable wire (kinda like oversized pipe cleaner), a fuzzy spider with big ol’ bendable legs came right to mind! And you wear those big ol’ fuzzy legs (that aren’t heavy at all) on your back, like a backpack.
There are 2 elastic straps that are worn on each shoulder….and keep those cute furry legs right in place!
And the “spider head” is just a plain black hat that you add these super jumbo sized googly eyes to the front. Funny, right??
And in case you’re wondering, those furry wire legs are actually pretty sturdy and hold their shape really well. I wondered if they would droop after a while, but nope! And each leg kinda bounces around while you’re walking around, which makes it kinda hilarious! They are even able to withstand all sorts of spider-like acrobatics, like jumping off of ledges (because spiders have to do that sometimes, you know!).
See how those legs have movement and kinda bobble around? Well, once Oliver was finished with his spider jump, the legs went right back to position. Ha!
They even hang nicely if your little spider gets down on his “extra legs” and tries crawling around like a true spider! Good thing he has such big bulging eyes to help lead the way. Ha!
This is one of those costumes that just cracks me up! And maybe it’s because Oliver had so much fun testing it out! But just look at that cute little spider….making his way down the ledge of our bricks! (I’m just glad real spiders aren’t really this big! ACK!)
Anyway, want to see how easy this is to make on your own? In any size??
But first…..we have so many costumes around here, is there possibly anyone out there who would like this one? If not, no biggee. But if so, you have to be okay with me kind of rolling up each leg to make shipping easier….and then unrolling and unbending the legs and then re-bending to the correct shape. Deal?? Oh, and this costume was made to fit a 3 year old but could be used all the way up to a 12 year old or maybe even a teen/adult….because those legs are nice and big (they’ll just look smaller by comparison on a bigger person)! You would just need to add bigger arm straps by hot gluing some black elastic…but that is a quick fix!
TO ENTER: leave a comment below, letting me know who you would use this costume for! (Be sure you add your email to the comment form, so I can contact you if you win. No one can see it but me!)
***Must be 18 to enter and live in the U.S. or Canada.
Now, onto the tutorial, for those of you who would just like to make your own!
First gather up your supplies. And remember, you can either buy a black beanie, or make a quick one using the tutorial linked in the supply list.
First, cut one of your your 9 foot pieces of fuzzy wire in half but take note that these ends you cut are now sharp. So to fix that, bend over the end you cut back onto itself just a tiny bit, to get rid of the sharp end.
One 4 1/2 foot piece will be enough for a 2 leg section. To create the shape of this 2 leg section….fold one of your wires almost in half to create a “V” shape at the bottom point and then bend each side of the wire away about halfway down, to create a 90 degree angle. Then bend each tip up a few inches, at another 90 degree angle….to give each leg little feet.
Now repeat 3 more times with the rest of your wire…..making 4 feet sections total.
Now, cut 2 pieces of cardboard that are equal in size and that are slightly more narrow than your subject’s back and about as tall as the top of their shoulders, down to their waist. Open the center “V” bend of each of the leg sections just a bit and arrange the legs on one of the cardboard pieces to see how it will look.
Then starting with the top wire, and keeping a definite “V” shape to your wire, hot glue it in place with plenty of hot glue! (Keeping the “V” shape seemed to give the legs some stability and help them keep their shape.) Repeat with the other 3 leg sections.
Now, create a circle with your elastic (you can tie it in a knot rather than sewing the ends together) and overlap the ends of your elastic off the edge of your cardboard….with big enough loops to fit your subject’s arm. (Hold it up with the cardboard and test the length you need before cutting it.) You could just create individual loops of elastic on each side but I figured keeping it all connected would keep it from pulling out of the side if it was pulled on too hard.
Now, place your other piece of cardboard on top, sandwiching it all together….using plenty of hot glue.
Now, cut a piece of felt or fleece that’s about 1 inch bigger than your cardboard on all sides and hot glue it down.
Then, turn it over and make a cut in your felt/fleece right where each leg (and elastic) protrudes from the cardboard and then glue each flap of felt/fleece over and onto the back of the cardboard.
Continue all the way around.
Then cut another piece of felt/fleece that’s the exact size of the cardboard….and glue it down to cover all your raw edges and cardboard.
Now, remember you can either buy a black beanie or make your own using the fleece tutorial linked up in the supply list. If you’re making the hat for a larger head, just add an inch or so of fabric around all edges, to make the hat pieces bigger. (Test on scrap fabric if needed.) Then use some hot glue to attach each of your googly eyes to the front of your hat!
Now, put the black shirt and leggings on, add the legs and hat, and your cute little spider is ready to go!!!
Enjoy!
-Ashley
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Need more No-Sew Costume ideas???
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Hi, I’m Ashley—the DIY-enthusiast behind this crazy blog!
