Coolest Homemade Wild Thing Halloween Costume

This Wild Thing Halloween costume was no small task. The first thing I did was get a Simplicity pattern for a Raggedy Andy costume. I needed something that would have a different top and bottom.

I bought orange and yellow fabric and cut it into strips. I then sewed the strips together to make orange and yellow striped fabric. Next, I cut the top of the pattern out of this fabric. I used grey fabric for the bottom. I cut rows and rows of scales. I outlined the bottom of the rows with fabric paint so they would stand out. I then cut the bottom of the pants out of the same grey fabric and sewed the rows of scales onto the pant pieces, before sewing the pants completely together.

I then attached the top and bottom of the outfit together, putting a zipper in the back. I added shoulder pads to the bottom of the legs to make the feet stand out a bit, and attached felt claws to the feet and ends of the sleeves. I added a fake fur tail to the back of the costume.

For the head, I took an old cowboy hat and glued a 21″ round piece of cardboard onto it. I cut a circle out of the middle so it would fit over the cowboy hat. Next, I put strips of cardboard back and forth over the top of the hat to create the head shape. I covered the entire head with foam.

I then started adding the fabric and fake fur to create the Wild Thing. The horns were made of felt, stuffed with batting. The nose was made the same way. The eyes were smooth styrofoam balls, painted yellow with a black piece of felt glued on for the pupil. I attached the bottom jaw piece separately. I lined the inside with soft fleece so the hair at the back wouldn’t scratch.

I added teeth made of felt, which I made stiff with a mixture of glue and water; the felt on its own was not stiff enough and kept curling up. I had to put a piece of foam in the top of the cowboy hat, so the headpiece wouldn’t slip too far down my son’s head. I also ran a piece of foam around the headband on the inside to keep it from slipping. Suprisingly, the head was not too heavy and my five year old son wore it without complaining. He was able to see through the mouth and never tripped on stairs or anything else. He could take it on and off with no problem.

I made a “Max” doll out of an old rag doll that I found at a Salvation Army store. I cut off the hair, made a wolf suit out of felt and made a new face for the doll with pink felt and fabric paint. The whiskers were made with yarn, and the tail with the same fabric as the Wild Thing’s tail. I made a crown from a white Santa hat trim and yellow foam.

This costume took many weeks of work, but the reaction of everyone who saw it was worth it!

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