simple diy toddler halloween costume - lion
ferociously cute lion
need a quick halloween costume and want to diy it? i’ve got a cute idea for you! last year, i pulled together a charming, yet super simple toddler lion costume. Rowan initially wasn’t thrilled at the costume (he was entering the stage of opinions & independence), but then realized trick-or-treating included a lot of running (& maybe a couple pieces of candy) & perked right back up.
i’m telling you, this costume is a breeze to make & you’ll be receiving compliments all night long!
what you’ll need:
for the body
tan “teddy bear” fur square (for the tummy piece)
safety pins or needle & thread
chalk or fabric pen
for the mane
tan & pink felt (for ears) - optional
champagne or ivory feather boa (i twisted two in different colors & sizes together to create more color dimension)
optional
black eyeliner pencil (for a nose & whiskers)
let’s get started
the body is the easiest part, so i suggest starting there.
take one of the pieces of teddy bear fur fabric, flip it over & chalk a quick oval about the size of your toddler’s tummy. this doesn’t have to be perfect
next cut the oval out
flip the furry oval back over & fluff the fur. some will fall out due to your cutting, but that’s okay. just don’t pull on it too much
optional step : using a lighter, lightly melt the fur fabric edges from the backside (the non-furry side) to “seal” them. you can do this by holding the flame close to the edge of the fabric and rotating the fabric’s edge. do NOT hold the flame in any one spot for long otherwise you will singe the fabric
finally, safety pin (or sew if you so choose) the tummy piece onto the tummy of the sweatshirt, furry side out
the body is done. see? easy peasy. now let’s get this wrapped up & finish the headpiece.
creating the mane headband
i ended up creating two different types of mane headbands, one using a standard plastic headband (like i’ll show you here) and another using a piece of thick elastic. i found that the semi-circle plastic headband approach to be preferably for my toddler so we could take it off easily if needed. if you’re creating this costume for a baby, i recommend using an elastic lace headband (like this one) as your base instead, and skip the ears.
anyways, let’s do this.
to create the ears
using chalk, sketch two medium tear drop shapes on the tan felt
cut those pieces out
next, sketch two smaller tear drop shapes on the pink felt
cut those pieces out
using your glue gun, squeeze a dollop of glue onto the back of the pink felt & layer it on top of the tan felt to create very simple felt ears
lay out your headband and position the ears roughly where you want them to rest (each one slightly off center)
add a small dollop of glue to the front side of the bottom of the ears (the point end of the tear drop shape) and carefully press that to onto your headband. i found pressing the glue blob to the top of the headband, then carefully folding the ears back, allowed them to “stand up” a little more
next, the actual “mane”
if you’re using two feather boas, twist them together to create a single, thicker boa
using fishing line, tie the boas together every few inches, starting at the bottom & finishing at the opposite end (if using a single boa, skip steps 1 & 2)
next, using fishing line, tie the boa along the top of the headband. when you reach the ears, either wrap in front of them OR gently separate the two boas and place the ear through the wrapped boa (optional : use a hot glue gun instead of fishing line to hold the boa to the headband)
snip off the excess boa (don’t throw this away, there should be enough to create a little tail)
finally, add the tail
using the excess boa, safety pin a short length to the back of the sweatpants, creating a simple, yet adorable, tail
and that’s it! now just add the kid & you’ll have a darling lion. i chose to add a little black nose & whiskers with an eyeliner pencil right before going out (in hopes of preventing smudging).
modifications for baby
if you’d like to modify this for baby (as i did below), here are a couple changes
skip the ears all together
instead of a hard semi-circle headband, opt for a lace stretchy one, like this & definitely use finishing line to attach the boa (hot glue won’t stretch the way you need it to)
use a baby onsie or set - also loved the idea of a bubble romper for a little girl (i just used a vanilla set i already had on hand)
do you think this is going to be your 2021 halloween costume for your kiddo? if yes, please be sure to share your photos! i’d love to see how your cuties turn out. tag me on Instagram @freeinthelines. can’t wait to see!
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