My almost-9-year-old LOVES giraffes. After seeing the Broadway version of the LION KING over the summer and seeing the very cool giraffe costumes they had, I decided I could make one. After a lot of thought and sketching, I began creating the homemade giraffe Halloween costume idea. I began searching for giraffe printed fabric, and after 10 or more stores, resorted to off-white flannel and decided to paint the spots on.
The head was first. I modeled my pattern based on a stuffed giraffe from my daughter’s collection. It was made up of 3 main pieces, which got re-seamed many times to get the head contours right. The neck was just two long pieces to which I added a yarn mane. At the base of the neck, I cut a spot out for her face and sewed in a small hood to keep the stuffing from her face. The head is stuffed with a Styrofoam head and poly-fill, and the neck is a ½ inch thick piece of foam cushion rolled into a cylinder.
The body is a simple shirt with long arms to mimic the giraffe’s front legs, and the pants are just straight legged with an elastic waist.
Under the costume, I made a crude vest that tied tight to her body with a long pocket down the back. I added a 4 ½ foot piece of small PVC pipe that inserted into the Styrofoam head and ran through the long pocket of the hidden vest to hold the head upright. The head was not very heavy, but did become awkward when going under trees or through doors, though she quickly mastered the maneuverability.
Once the costume was all fitted, the spots were painted on with acrylic paint, sponge brush, and a lot of patience! Her costume did not go unnoticed at any of the events we attended or during trick-or-treating. She absolutely loves it!
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