I wanted to be Little Bo Peep and I asked my wonderful boyfriend to dress up as my sheep! To my surprise, he agreed, however, on one condition; I had to make the adult sheep costume.
I started off with a white hooded sweatshirt, 4 bags of cotton balls and fabric glue…8 more bags of cotton balls and 4 hours of gluing later, my masterpiece was almost complete! I bought white and pink fabric and made the ears (sewed them together inside out and stuffed them with cotton balls for extra fluffiness) then attached them to the hood of the sweatshirt.
He was the hit of the party! Sadly, I ran out of time and had to buy my Bo Peep costume, but were still had the best costumes at the party!
Related costumes:
Coolest Sheep Halloween Costume 
Little Bo Peep and Her Horsey Sheep Costumes 
Family of Sheep Costumes 
12 Coolest Homemade Parrot Costume Ideas 
Coolest Homemade Chicken Halloween Costume 
Coolest Homemade Monkey Group Costume 
Coolest Homemade Lion Costume Ideas 
Unique Woman Costume Idea: Homemade Sheep Costume for Under $20!
about how much and what kind of glue did you use?
I did this for Halloween 08! It turned out great and was very warm for when i went outside haha. I used 1 white hoody and 1 pair or white sweatpants. 1,150 cotton balls and about 10-15 bottles of fabric glue. I got the fabric glue that remains “flexible” because if you don’t your fluffy sheep costume will be hard as a rock! I did the cotton balls one by one. it does get tedious but it turns out great! I was that close to winner most original costume I was the hit of the party!
what did you do about legs/pants..did you cover it by cotton balls..did he
I used Aleene’s® Tacky Glue
you can get it at any fabric store- i used 2 bottles!
My heart sank when my son Liam told me he wanted to be a sheep for Halloween this year. I can barely sew a button, let alone a sheep suit! But now that Liam and I have seen your inspired idea, we can’t wait to get the tracksuit and start gluing! Thanks for sharing your idea!
I am doing this for my boyfriend this year, and am using a hot glue gun because it dries more quickly. Hopefully it turns out okay – so far so good, but it is very time consuming. I recommend a good head start!
I used 10-15 bottles of fabric glue that I got at my local Walmart
What did you do for ears and shoes?
this is perfect for me. I’m going in NYC for Halloween and I hate the cold so much. I’m off to the world of glueing cottonballs. thank you! awesome costume!!
just be aware cottonballs and glue are highly flammable
so going to do this this year for our Christmas program
the ears are made of out white fabric (whatever was the cheapest! and pink felt, I hand sewed them together (inside out, then turn after sewing, leaving a small hole to stuff) and stuffed them with cotton balls to make them fluffy! then hand sewed on the hood.
I also made a tail using the same white fabric and stuffed it as well.
He wore white b-ball shorts, because it was really hot in the hoodie and black and white tennis shoes.
Good luck with the gluing!
PS I tried hot glue but it was melting the cotton balls, so I’d recommend the “tacky glue” see my comment below.
I’m doing it for Halloween ’09. I’m going to a Halloween party in Las Vegas. So much work to get it done. I’m currently at 1600 cotton balls, and 10 bottles of fabric glue. I’m about 85% done with the top, and I still have to do the sweat pants. I think I am doing it the hard way. Hope everything comes out right.
my friend scored a great Bo Peep costume and me not knowing what to be, agreed to be her sheep. I have yet to make the costume, but this idea has certainly inspired me! I’m going to try the same procedure, only using one of those white painter jump suits. Hope it looks as great as yours!
I used a tyvek suit (disposable suit for cleaning chemicals, asbestos) then stretched cotton balls out and used spray adhesive glue.
How did you get your costume so fluffy? Did you do layers of cotton balls? I love the idea and that is what my boyfriend is going as this year. Thanks for posting this for all to see.
I am being little bo peep this year and I am making my boyfriend into a sheep! Thanks so much for your idea! but i am making it the day before halloween (i know a little late) if I use fabric glue, will it be dry in time for halloween night? or should I just use a hot glue gun? thanks!
i’m in the process of making this right now! i’m using elmer’s multi purpose spray adhesive (from hobby lobby) and it keeps the cotton balls soft and saves tons of time since you can spray a large area! can’t wait till its finished, thanks for the inspiration!
Finally finished my own sheep costume – which I made out of white sweat pants and a white long sleeve t-shirt. I also glued the cotton balls one by one – and ended up using 21 bags of 200 jumbo cotton balls – and about 4 bottles of the large size of Aleene’s Tacky Glue.
It definitely needs 24 hours for the glue to dry.
Tip: Put wax paper inside the garment to keep one layer from sticking to the other. Also, pour the glue out onto a piece of wax paper, then just dip the cotton ball in it. This makes the gluing go a lot faster…
it took multiple days to finish this and i only did the top, i didnt cotton ball his shorts- he wore plain white basketball shorts. i didnt glue multiple layers, but i did put tons of cotton balls on, there was not a blank space!
the fabric glue will probably not dry in one day, so dont wait til the last minute! (or you can always use a hairdryer to help speed up the process)
i did the front first and put cardboard inside the shirt so the front and back didnt stick together. from my experience, hot glue melted the cotton and it didnt stick as well.
ps by the end of the night there were cotton ball EVERYWHERE! but he still looks fluffy! so put more cotton ball then you think are necessary!
I’m going to try this for our 2010 church Halloween party. My husband is going as Old MacDonald and my sons and I are his farm. I thought going as a sheep sounded better than a pig. My sons are going to be the cow and duck. I hope this works I’ve got a week and a half!
Can you wash this with the cotton balls on it? We’re doing in a family farm theme and my husband and I are the farmers and each of our kids are being a different farm animal. I love this costume idea, but my mom wants to snag the costume after Halloween and use it for the nativity at Christmas. Any body try to wash theirs yet?
it won’t hold up in the wash.
sadly, the sheep is gone!!! i had to throw it out.
but we did get good use out of it!
Halloween 2010n is going to be the best thanks to your post… Tried searching for one to buy for my boyfriend but could not find one you would think that if their is a lil bo peep costumes for adults they would make an adult sheep costume but thanks for the idea we are starting ours tonite I look forward to seeing the final result…
I’ve been in the process of making a sheep costume, the only problem is the cotton balls fray like crazy. I don’t think it will even last an hour on Halloween night!
Anything that could be recommended to spray on them to preserve a little longer?
Use fiberfill (for pillows) instead of cotton balls. It’s much quicker and covers a lot more space. It’s not as “neat” looking because there aren’t rows of balls, but it still ends up with the same effect. And, yes, Aleene’s Tacky Glue or Fabric Fusion works great!
Thanks to everyone for your posts, they were a big help. I bought a white Tyvek painter style suit with hood, and glued over 3100 cotton balls to it (54 on the tail alone) with Aleene’s tacky glue (I used two 8 oz. bottles, don’t be worried about using lots of glue, it doesn’t stiffen much. I was sick with a cold last weekend so I just stayed home and worked on my costume. I got a great mask on ebay for $7.
Two things to emphasize:
1. Place cardboard in between the pieces that you are working on, you can safely glue close to a square foot at a time.
2. Splurge on Jumbo cotton balls if you can get them, 3100 is a lot of gluing.
My costume turned out great! If you want any further information feel free to email me at bjsaulnier@netscape.net
The glue can get expensive, I used six bottles at $5 per bottle. That did about 1500 cotton balls. I also used a white hooded sweatshirt with white long john bottoms. It looks awesome!
Thanks for all the great advice here. It’s a good thing that I was sick and homebound last weekend, because I glued over 3100 cotton balls to one of those white Tyvek painter suits over three days. I used Aleene’s Tacky Glue, it dried well and not stiff. I got a great mask off of eBay for $7. The only advice that I can add is: Splurge on the “Jumbo” cotton balls, wish I had.
Bought overalls from home depot. Bought about 4000 cotton balls from London drugs. Used spray adhesive, which was quicker than gluing one by one. However they didn’t stick to the overalls, so sprayed them again. So the whole suit became sticky. I didn’t leave enough time to make it this way so that night I has to be careful not to sit down! Good costume, it was a hit, but leave time for it to dry. 2 days wasn’t, enough.
My son has a school play of Jack and the Beanstalk,he’s a sheep at the market. I already had a long sleeve white t’shirt and bought op shop white track pants. It turned out fantastic thanks for the idea :)
Hey! Love your costume!
I was just thinking that if you ever wanted to re-use that costume, you could take off the ears and your man could be the “sponge towel sponge pocket”.
LOL
This Is SUUUPPAAA!!!!!!!! COOl!!!!!!!!!! Great idea!!!!!! Thanks
has anyone had problems with the glue smelling? my boyfriend and i both have headaches after being around the costume and he has to wear it all night! any ideas how to get rid/absorb the glue smell? thanks!
Thanks for the post!! Currently making this for my husband who’s very tall! So many cotton balls later (3000), he’ll make an awesome sheep! He takes turns dressing up with our kids – Mr Incredible with one, football coach with another. This year our 3 yr old daughter is “Mary” of the little lambs – except at our house it’ll be Lily with a great big lamb!! Can’t wait!!!
This was such a great idea! Me and my girlfriend spent three days making the costume! We used over 2500 cotton balls and three cans of spray adhesive! We made ears out of white and pink material, stuffed them with cotton balls and cut small holes in the hoodie and pulled the ears through for a great look! She dressed as little Bo peep! We won a $400 best costume prize! I did not think this would be such a hit as it was! I figured it would of been a funny costume where people would just laugh! Well we were proved wrong! Truly suggest anyone thinking of doing this should! We a great time making the costume and wearing it out!
Well I brought back the sheep again this year! It still is a hit and we had so many people stop and take pictures with my husband (yep, we’re married now!)
Its great to read all the comments and I’m glad people are still making the sheep! It’s probably my favorite costume!
another tip- buy the cotton balls on eBay! they have 2000 packs, and trust me, you’ll need a ton! :)
We are having a sheep racing fundraiser for our Gaeilic Football club. Any chance of seeing a full length photo?
This is such a cute costume! I was googling homemade sheep costumes for this Halloween but stumbled on something I hadn’t even considered- cotton wool is super, super flammable!! Even something like a cigarette can cause it to go up in flames. Finding this out made me really re-consider my costume idea. Its hard to say no to how fun and cute this costume is, but safety should come first. I don’t mean to put a damper on this great craft but thought it was worthwhile to share. x
Love it!!! Would you be interesting making another or selling the costume? troyinaz@cox.net