This post is sponsored by Universal Pictures……however, all opinions and tutorials are 100% mine. So thanks for supporting the brands that support this site! :)
Are any of you (or your kids/grandkids/friends) “How To Train Your Dragon” fans?? My 10 year old Connor has been a huge fan for YEARS! He got all 12 books for his 8th birthday and has read through them all several times…as well as my 12-year-old Ellie, who has snuck them from his shelf over the years and loved them just as much. And if any of you have been around this blog for a while, you’ll know that I made Connor a DIY Hiccup Costume for Halloween a few years ago and then of course had to make Oliver a DIY Toothless Costume to match! You guys, those costumes were so fun to make….and those old pictures just crack me up!
My older kids have seen the first two movies that came out several years ago and they have loved watching their favorite characters brave the adventures in an exciting world where dragons exist! So when they found out the final installment in the series was finally being released, I might have heard a few “hallelujah’s” sung around this house! ;) And that’s why when I was invited to create a project that’s inspired by the release of the latest movie, How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (being released February 22nd )……I knew I had to jump all over it! I mean come on, it’s in our blood around here!
I thought about several ideas that would be so fun to make….but finally decided that since it’s going to start warming up here in Oklahoma, and Oliver and Max are in need of some lighter jackets, I decided to make these “Toothless” Dragon Hoodie/Jackets for them both. But the EASY way!
This new movie that’s coming out is all about the appearance of a new female dragon, Light Fury, mixed with the darkest threat the village has ever faced. Toothless and his rider Hiccup will fight together—to the very ends of the Earth—to protect everything they’ve grown to treasure. Check out this trailer below…
My kids have seen that trailer several times….and are beyond thrilled to see the movie! (I even caught Connor reading book 9 again a few weeks ago, saying he was trying to remember everything! Ha!)
Anyway, these cute little hoodie jackets are perfect to celebrate and are pretty SIMPLE to make! And that’s because they are made from existing hoodies…so you’re only adding on the cute details! (And even if someone outside our home didn’t know who “Toothless” was, they would still see my boys in their jackets and recognize them as wearing little “dragon” jackets. So it works!)
And yes, making Oliver and Max match really is a nerdy pleasure of mine! ;) But come on….seeing two little dragons running around?!?! Makes me gush every time! Ha! :)
Toothless is the dragon that Hiccup (a Viking boy) rides, who is the main character in the “How To Train Your Dragon series”…and the two of them become very best friends! Toothless carries Hiccup through the sky on so many adventures, using his powerful set of dragon wings. So, of course…this jacket needed wings that Oliver and Max could flap around as well!
All of the material added onto the jacket is a sturdy knit fabric (more on that below) and doesn’t fray. So, it worked perfectly to create flowy wings that don’t need to be hemmed along the scalloped bottom edge. So much easier!
In one of the previous movies (and earlier books), Toothless loses one of the fins at the end of his tail. So Hiccup creates a red prosthetic fin for Toothless, so that he can be whole again! So of course….I included one too for my boys!
But check out those little spikes along his back…..they are such a cute detail, but are also made from knit which makes them comfortable, without poking them in the back when they sit in a chair or ride in the car.
Toothless is a playful and curious dragon but is also very smart and skilled. He has signature green eyes and horns on his head, so yep, I included those too!
Shockingly, both boys LOVE keeping the hoods up on their heads. (Which shocks me about Max especially…because he doesn’t like anything on his head!) I secretly think it’s because they know how darn cool Toothless is! ;)
Since the newest movie How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World is coming out THIS WEEK, my kids have all been excitedly talking about it lately! (Get tickets for your family HERE!) When the older kids (Ellie, Connor, and Chloe) love something…Oliver and Max jump all over it and LOVE it too! But Oliver and Max have been battling over whose turn it is to hold this little stuffed Toothless! Cracks me up!
Not even kidding, Max will NOT stop kissing this thing! He even takes his sucker (aka: picture taking bribery) out of his mouth to do so!
(I swear the baby of the family knows how to work magic and get what they want. Go ahead Max have an extra turn! Ha!)
I really love sewing for my kiddos….but especially costume-type items. And even though these could definitely be used as a costume, they’re not too over-the-top and totally work as a jacket during the cold months. Let me just say I’ve done a lot of giggling/laughing/smiling taking my boys on errands with me this past week, wearing these little jackets. They just crack me right up!!!
Okay, enough chatting, let me show you how to whip up some Toothless Hoodie Jackets of your very own!!
***Check out my Sewing Terms 101 post, for additional help.
***SEWING TIP: While using knit (or any other type of stretchy fabric), sometimes it helps to increase the stitch length so it doesn’t pull and stretch as much while sewing. Also, starting on the very edge of the fabric can cause the fabric to stretch and get jammed under your needle plate. If you’re having trouble, start sewing in about an inch from the edge and then go back and finish off the remaining section at the end, but starting from the other direction.
Let’s work on the dragon wings first!
Begin by laying your jacket down in front of you and lift an arm of the jacket so that it’s at a 90 degree angle from the bodice of the jacket. Cut a square piece out of your black knit that fits into that space (make sure the upper corner is at a 90 degree angle) but is a few inches wider and longer that the space beneath the sleeve, to be sure you have enough fabric.
In the upper inner corner of your black fabric, cut a little square notch, that is 5/8 x 5/8 inch.
Now, line up the left side of your black fabric along the side seam of the jacket, with the little notch at the top. (Take note that the bottom of the notch needs to line up with the seam where the sleeve attaches to the bodice of the jacket.) Pin the fabric in place.
With pins holding the fabric in place, open up the jacket and sew the black fabric to the jacket, using a ¼ inch seam allowance. (Be sure you’re only sewing the one layer of the jacket and it’s not bunching up as you sew.)
Now, line the upper edge of your black fabric (starting with the notch) along the seam that goes down the length of the sleeve. You’ll notice that the notch will come together, and the edges will meet (or at least pretty close) and yes, it kinda puckers out a bit, but don’t worry, that will correct itself in some of the next steps. I promise it’ll help later on!
Now, here’s where the sewing is a little tricky but since your fabric is pinned, that will help keep it where it needs to go. But, open up your jacket and slide it under your sewing machine and starting at the armpit, sew this edge of fabric along the sleeve, right along the sleeve. You’ll have to open up your sleeve opening as best you can and sew a few inches, adjust your fabric, keep things flat underneath the needle, and then continue sewing and adjusting. Keep checking that you’re not creating puckers in the sleeve fabric as you’re sewing. (Another option is to hand sew this section to the sleeve if you’re getting frustrated and the arm hole seems too small. But at least try it on your machine because if you go really slow, you can totally do it!)
Now it should all be attached like this.
Now, flip your jacket over to the BACK SIDE. You’re going to be sewing right along the edge of the black fabric again (to encapsulate and hide the raw edge of black fabric on the other side), but 3/8 inch from edge where it’s attached to the jacket. I like to start at the armpit and sew my way down and outward to be sure there’s no puckering from stretched fabric.
To help you get started at the armpit, it’s helpful to place a few pins on the side you’re sewing first, to keep the fabric flat and the notch closed as you slide it under your needle.
Now, open up the jacket and start sewing along the side seam of the jacket first and then do the sleeve next.
Now, I didn’t include a template for the wing because everyone’s will be a different size because of the dimensions of your jacket, sleeve length, etc. So, grab some paper and create a 90-degree angle at the inner corner (doesn’t have to be perfect) and then place it on top of your black fabric, with the corner you’ve created up in the armpit. Then draw a curve with pencil that bubbles outward and reaches from the very end of one sleeve, down to the very bottom corner of the bodice. Then, turn that curve into a scalloped edge instead…making it look more like a dragon wing. Not too bad, right?! ;)
Cut out your template shape and then place back down onto your black fabric and cut right along the edge of the template, creating a nice wing shape. Repeat with the other sleeve and there you go, 2 dragon wings!!
Now, onto the back spikes and the tail. Again, this would be hard to create a one-size-fits all pattern piece, so I’ll guide you through this one too!
Cut a long strip of fabric that is wide and rectangular at the top and then at about halfway down the jacket starts angling inward and down to a point that hangs past the bottom edge of the jacket. REMEMBER, to include an extra ¼ INCH along the 2 side edges of your strip of fabric for a seam allowance and an extra INCH at the top, to be folded under when attaching to the jacket. Also, the length of the tail depends on preference (and jacket dimensions) but I didn’t want mine so long that it would get in the way or get caught on the things. But not so short you can’t tell it’s a tail.
***As a point of reference, for the size 2 and size 4 jackets that I made, both strips were 3.5 inches wide at the top. The strip for the size 4 jacket hung down 7 inches past the bottom edge of the jacket (and was 24 inches long). The strip for the size 2 jacket hung down 6 inches past the bottom edge of the jacket (and was 21 inches total). Those dimensions INCLUDE the seam allowances.
Now, cut another strip of fabric that is EXACTLY the same shape but it ¼ inch bigger around all the edge. I think the easiest way is to place your original strip of fabric on top of your black fabric and add an extra ¼ inch around as you cut. (The pink line below is showing where the smaller/original piece would fit on top of the bigger piece on the right.)
Now, cut the bigger piece right in half lengthwise. (Fold it in half and holding it carefully as you cut works well!)
Cut some triangles out of your black fabric. You’ll need 2 triangles per spike. (I included templates for both the size 2 and size 4 jackets, to use as a reference.)
Then, sew along the 2 sides of the triangle, using a ¼ inch seam allowance and leaving the bottom open (triangle 1). Trim off the tip of the triangle without cutting through the thread (triangle 2). Turn your triangle right side out, poke the tip of the triangle out with something small and pointy, press the triangle flat, and then sew the bottom edge of the triangle closed using a ¼ inch seam allowance (triangle 3). Repeat so that you have enough triangles to line up along the length of the jacket back, but not past the bottom edge of the jacket onto the “tail” portion.
Place your triangles along one of the strips that you cut in half, matching up the raw edges of your triangles along the inner straight edge of the strip. Pin each triangle in place. (Make sure that you start attaching your triangles about 1.5 inches or more from the end of your strip…because later on, that edge will be folded under an inch before attaching it to the jacket.)
You can sew each of the triangles onto the edge of the strip before continuing if you’re worried about them shifting or stretching…or just keep the pins and place and pull them out as you sew. Either way, now place the other half of this strip of fabric on top of the triangles and pin together to hold in place, and then sew along this straight edge, using a ¼ inch seam allowance.
Now you have 2 pieces that are the same size, but one of them has triangle spikes attached.
Before sewing these 2 pieces together let’s make the signature Toothless Tail pieces, with the red one being his prosthetic. Use the template (or use as a guide for the shape) to cut out 2 black pieces and 2 red pieces. Then sew along the outer angled edges, leaving the long straight edge open. Use a ¼ inch seam allowance.
Trim off all the pointy corners. Turn right side out and press flat.
Now, grab the tail strip of fabric that doesn’t have the triangles attached and place the red piece on the right and the black piece on the left…positioning them in the direction then need to go. (Don’t worry, when finished, the red will end up being on the left like it’s supposed to be.)
Now, flip the red piece over onto the tail so that the straight edge matches up with the straight edge of the tail. Pin in place about 1.5 to 2 inches from the bottom tip of the tail.
Stitch this piece onto the tail to secure it in place.
Now, fold the red one over and out of the way and then do the same with the black piece.
Once both are sewn in place….kind of fold them over onto each other and pin them down, so they’ll stay out of the way while you sew the tail together.
Place the 2 tail pieces together with RIGHT SIDES together and start pinning together, starting at the very tip first.
Sew them together along both sides (not the top), using a ¼ inch seam allowance. Cut the extra fabric from the tip and then turn right side out and press flat (mine isn’t pressed yet and that’s why the edges look ruffled. An iron/steam will fix this perfectly)! Now, sew along the edges, using a top-stitch (about 1/8 inch from the edge of the fabric). This will help keep your tail flat and the shape you want.
You’ll notice that the spikes are all kinda lying flat. To fix this and get them to stand up, slide your tail sideways under the sewing machine needle and pull one of the triangles directly over to the left and sew a few stitches barely onto the triangle. Be sure to backstitch several times to secure the stitches in place.
Here’s a closer look of where I sewed. See how it’s only a few stitches and it’s barely on the triangle?
Here’s another view. Now repeat on both sides of the triangle…and do the same with each triangle.
Once you’re finished, your triangles will all have some lift to them!
Now, place the tail along the center of the back of the jacket, folding the top edge under 1 inch. Pin in place.
Here’s the top edge that’s folded under 1 inch.
Now sew along the entire thing to attach it to the jacket, right along the already existing topstitch from a previous step.
Okay, now the head. Let’s first make the eyes. Grab a scrap of green, black and white knit fabric (or you can use fleece) and iron some double-sided fusible adhesive to the back of the scrap fabric pieces. Then, trace the eye template pieces onto the back where the paper side of the adhesive is. Cut your pieces out, take the paper backing of the black and white pieces (not the green yet) and position them on top of the green eyes. Iron in place.
Peel off the backing of the green fabric. Now is a good time to stitch around the little white circle and black circle (with their coordinating thread colors), helping secure them to the fabric. (It’s more awkward to sew them in place after they’re attached to the jacket hood….so eliminating these 2 layers is helpful.)
Position the eyes onto the hood of the jacket and iron them in place to activate the adhesive. Now stitch around the green edge of the fabric.
Cut the little horn shapes from your black fabric, 2 pieces per horn piece (which is 8 total, you just can’t see them stacked below) and stitch around the sides using a ¼ inch seam allowance. Turn right side out through the bottom opening and then press flat. Sew along the bottom edge to keep them closed and then trim the bottom edge of each triangle so that they are nice and straight and clean (helpful for a future step).
Then, decide where you want to attach your horns (slightly forward from the top of the head is what worked for us) and then place the raw edge of the horns right along that location, but place the horns flat onto the hood and with the tips pointing towards the front of the hood. Pin all 4 horns in place (2 small ones in the center).
Here’s a side view of the hood.
Now, stitch the horns onto the hood using a very small seam allowance, an 1/8 inch or less.
You’ll notice the horns are lying flat onto the face. Yuck. To solve this, fold each horn back and then add just a couple diagonal stitches along the bottom corners of where each horn is attached to the hood (the pink lines down below). By doing this, it helps pull each horn back but since it’s just barely a couple stitches, it doesn’t force it all the way back and flat…. but helps lift it upward. (I used my sewing machine, but hand stitching may feel easier to manage for some.)
And that’s it!
The cutest little Toothless Dragon Hoodies for any age to wear!!!
Enjoy!!!
Ashley
Hi, I’m Ashley—the DIY-enthusiast behind this crazy blog!
