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!
SUPPLIES for Easy No-Sew Spider Costume:
- Black beanie hat (or make your own using this Fleece Baby Hat Tutorial)
- Black Shirt and Leggings
- 2 packages black Fuzzy Craft Stems, 9 feet each (I found mine at Michaels)
- Oversized Googly Eyes (I found these at Michaels too)
- Black elastic, 1/4 inch wide
- Hot Glue Gun and Glue Sticks (this is my favorite affordable glue gun)
- cardboard
- Black felt or fleece (just a few scrap pieces to cover your cardboard)
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
. . . . .
Need more No-Sew Costume ideas???
Check out a few of these…
Love this idea!! Will definitely have to make it unless you still have this one left? My son is obsessed with spiders. You don’t by any chance have a shark outfit do you. My other son wants to be one and I don’t know where to start with planning that’s outfit.
Thanks.
My son is going to be in a play for his school. This is the perfect costume!
Thanks for the fun idea! How long should we make the elastic part be? I just bought a generic pack but don’t know how much of it I need to use! Thanks!
Great idea on how to fix spider costume. My 3 year old grandson Benjamin wants to be a spider so I’ll try this out. Can you get supplies only at Michaels? Thanks for the great idea.
My 3 year old grandson wants to be a “pider” (spider) for Halloween! This would be adorable for him.
I would love this costume for my son hes been talking being a spider but I have no clue where to be begin & I hope supplies arent expensive
I have been scouring the internet looking for a DIY spider costume that doesn’t involve stuffed tights/socks! Thank you!
I need this costume!! So cute!
P.S. My son wants to be a scuba diver this year…. I have seen lots of cute pictures on pinterest and other places, but I haven’t found any great tutorials that have pictures and show the steps. If you happened to need any other costume ideas (ha! I’m sure you don’t), I’d love one of your amazing tutorials for it! :)
My three-year-old would love this costume!! Such a fun idea!
What an adorable model for such a cute costume! I would love it if you stopped by my blog Monday and shared this and your other costumes on my More the Merrier Monday link party! diyhshp.blogspot.com
My 5 year old son!
Love it!
I would use this for myself, and I would also love to make a version of this for my dogs (they are black, and would make great spiders).
My 3 year old would LOVE this, and I would LOVE it if I won it! As a busy mom of 5, I’m finding no time to make them the costumes they want!
Ha! I have a little boy who would love to be a spider :)
My 3 year old would be SO excited for this costume! He has been asking me for weeks if he can be “a black spider with huge eyes” for Halloween. It’s like this was made exactly for him! Please please pick me!! I can just picture the look on his face when he sees this for the first time! SO PERFECT!!
My 5 yr old would love this!! She always gets a spider face painting and calls it itsy….it’s one of her favorites! Super cute and easy. I’m going to look into those fuzzy wires.
My kiddos would LOVE scaring their Dad with this costume. I bet the 7 yr old and 3 yr old would fight over it! SO CUTE!
My two year old foster baby would love to have this costume! He pretty big for his age, so I think it would fit and he loves ANY bug!
Oh, I just saw the rain cloud costume and I am definitely going to try that for his sister as well!
So cute!! My 5 year old son would LOVE this costume!
This is the best! My almost 3yo boy is going to be a spider. He always runs around saying “spider get you!” Thank you for this tutorial! Brother is a mummy and I will be a bat. Classic costumes this year for us
My super-skinny 6yo boy wants to be a spider for Halloween, which is why I was searching Pinterest for ideas like this anyway. You’d save me a load of trouble–I have four other kids to create costumes for, too!
My 3 year old son Jack just told me yesterday he wanted to be a “pider” so he could scare everyone.
This is such a cute costume! Our 4 year old daughter is obsessed with spiders (!!!!!) and she would love it!! Thank you for being so generous!
One of the grandson’s would love to wear this spider costume.
How cute!!! I love simple costumes. I would love this for my son.
I’d love the spider costume! Still trying to do family themes and my daughter wants to be a butterfly (love your tutorial) so little brother is going to be a spider.
My 6 year old daughter loves bugs of all kinds and has said she wants to be an entomologist since she was 2. She recently was given a little stuffed spider for a gift and decided that’s what she wants to be for halloween! I’ve been looking at ideas but love how cute this turned out. I would only need to add some furry purple knees!!!!!
Soo cute!! I love it! I would us it for one of my kids… either my 8 yr old daughter or my 2 yr old son! My 4 yr old daughter is going to be a flamingo so we are trying to go with an animal theme this year!
When I win, I’d like Spider Boy to be shipped along with his crazy legs, please!
My children and nieces are grown now, but I always made intricate Halloween costumes for them, so much fun!Ii
I would love to win this spider for my son’s 100 pound dog – it would be too much fun! I can make him a hat with places for his ears:)
So cute. My granddaughter wants to be a spider and this is perfect.
My 7 year old wants to be a spider for Halloween! This is perfect!
Too cute! My daughter loves spiders and would love to jump out at people to scare them!
I always look forward to drooling over your adorable annual Halloween costumes and your easy tutorials have actually made me feel like ‘I could do that’ and inspire me to dig out the craft supplies and sewing machine. My 7 year old boy would LOVE this costume!
Oh my goodness! Was just talking to my coworker this morning about my daughters “Black Widow” costume that she wants. My coworker told me I should make spider legs for it and then I got this email!!! So if I win this would be for my 7 yo ;)) We’re going to use freezer paper to stencil the red mark on her shirt!
My daughter or my son will love this costume!
Such a cute idea. My daughter would wear it for Halloween.
I love this! I would use it for my 3 year old daughter. Her baby sister is going to be a lady bug so this would be perfect!
My granddaughter wants to be a spider for Halloween but we don’t have a Michael’s where we live . Any ideas on what else I use for the legs? Love the costume.
They are available through Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B072RQY929/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=maitanloit0c3-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B072RQY929&linkId=6ff9d1fd831800071550c3fe5838b8b9
Ashley, I’d love a spider costume! I have a ladies vintage black pill box hat that I am hoping to put a spider on top, with something that looks like black webbing. I’m going to cover a large studio home ball with black fabric, goo goo eyes and of course legs, for a trick or treat hat.
My 5 yr old has said many times this year she wants to be a spider for Halloween this is perfect!
I would like to win this for either my son or one of the girls! Thanks for the giveaway, that is real nice of you!
My son told me yesterday he wants to be a spider! This is perfect! I’m going to buy the stuff if I don’t win!
Smithnatalier@gmail.com
October 30th and my 2.5 year-old just sprung on me that she wants to be a spider and not a pirate, as she has wanted to be all month. I don’t think I will win at this point… better get to Michael’s now!
I am going to make it for myself and my husband. our kids are going to be butterfly and a moth(food for spiders)
My 4 year old would love this costume! Thank you for the great tutorial!
So cute! I’d use it for either myself or my daughter for Bookoween at school!