Admit it, homemade costumes almost always win the costume contest at the Halloween celebrations you attend each year with the costumes you buy at the store. Stop going to the sickening Halloween costume shop just to buy an overpriced (though not very impressive) costume, and head to a craft shop instead. From sexy to spooky looks, you can easily make Halloween costumes for you, your friends, or your family members by considering some of the ideas below. You never know, this year, you might just win!
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Method 1 of 3: Deciding on Costume Ideas
Step 1. Find ideas for your costume
If you don't have a clear idea of what Halloween costume look you want, browse websites, Pinterest, and old magazines for ideas.
- There are lots of homemade costume ideas and patterns on the internet. All you have to do is search for websites that offer costume ideas and patterns using Google. For extraordinarily elaborate costumes, visit MarthaStewart.com for a complete guide to making awesome costumes.
- If you have a Pinterest account, create a special board to keep any Halloween costume ideas you find online to keep them organized in one place.
Step 2. Look for inspiration from your favorite characters
Make a list of movies, books, TV shows, dramas, celebrities, or any other type of media that has character. Fictional characters and famous people are a great place to start looking for homemade Halloween costume ideas.
Step 3. Recall recent events
Often, the funniest costumes are those that touch on recent news, crash on celebrities, or refer to various aspects of pop culture.
- Think back to the most talked about events of the past year, or search the internet for lists of eye-catching events for your costume inspiration.
- For example, when Mitt Romney stated during one of the presidential debates in 2012, that if he was elected President of the United States, he would cut federal funding to PBS, an educational television channel that broadcasts "Sesame Street." This incident later became the inspiration for homemade costumes. After Halloween, photos surfaced on the internet of the costumes of the dead Mitt Romney and Big Bird couple.
Step 4. Prepare the theme
If you can't decide on a specific character or object you want, choose an interesting theme to start with. Your theme could be the 1920s, underwater, or Disney movies, for example.
Once you've decided on a theme, start narrowing down your choices. For an "underwater" theme, for example, you could be a fish, a mermaid, King Triton, a whale, or any creature/object under the sea, whether fictional or real
Step 5. Decide if you want to make your own costume or a couple/group costume
Costumes that require several people can be fun and look awesome if made right.
Some examples of group costumes include: a band, a superhero, a celebrity couple, or a series of characters from a book, movie, etc
Method 2 of 3: Selecting the Costume Material
Step 1. Decide how many things you want to add to your costume
You can make your own costumes without working too hard, or you can create elaborate designs if you want, and have the opportunity to do so.
- Consider the time you have to complete the costume. If you're trying to make a costume the day before Halloween, don't try to make a costume that's too ambitious.
- Costumes made for Halloween can be easily made using clothes and equipment you already have at home.
Step 2. Find inspiration for the fabric you need to buy
Arts and crafts stores are great places to look for costume materials, even if you don't really know what you want before visiting.
- If a costume requires you to sew, you'll want to choose a material that's easy to sew or put together, if you're new to the crafting process. Felt is an inexpensive option and can be glued using hot glue, or even stapled to clothes. Regular cotton fabrics are easy to sew with a sewing machine or by hand.
- Be sure to measure the costume before you buy the material you need.
Step 3. Visit a thrift or recycling store
A thrift store can be a great choice for finding inexpensive and unique clothes that are perfect for costumes. Often times, these shops also sell homemade costumes if you prefer not to make your costume from scratch.
Step 4. Think about the decorations that might be used
To make your costume stand out even more, you need to decorate it with the right accessories and embellishments. Many accessories, from faux crowns and flowers to buttons and glitter glue, can be purchased cheaply at arts and crafts stores.
Method 3 of 3: Making Costumes
Step 1. Make a costume without sewing
Costumes made without needing to sew are perfect for children or people who can't sew, or don't have the sewing equipment to make their own costumes.
- Hot glue gun felt is a very easy way to make your costume. Make a pattern on a piece of paper and determine the size you need for your costume. Transfer the pattern to felt with a pen and use scissors to cut it out, before using glue to hold it together.
- Use hot glue to glue things together or add embellishments to existing clothes. For example, you and your partner could layer a green dress with fake or real leaves, wrap a toy snake around your neck, and glue apples in your hands to make a simple Adam and Eve costume.
Step 2. Sew the costume from the fabric
If you're pretty good at sewing, look up patterns online or create your own guide to making your own costume out of fabric.
- For pants, you'll need the following measurements: waist, hips, crotch height, and overall leg length from waist to floor.
- For clothes, you will need the following measurements: neck, chest, shoulder width, sleeve length, sleeve width and shirt length.
- For shorts, use the size of the pants you have, only, reduce the length of the pants to your liking.
- For a skirt, you only need the waist and hip measurements. The length and volume of the skirt may vary depending on the type of skirt you want to make.
- Make sure that the material you choose is not transparent or makes you itchy, if you are making the shirt as part of your costume.
- Add embellishments to the costume once you're done sewing all of it.
Step 3. Reuse the cardboard box
You can use a cardboard box to place it on your body or your head, depending on the effect you want.
- To use it on your body, make a round hole big enough to run your arms through each side of the cardboard, and a hole big enough for your head at the top. Leave room for your body to move and stretch your joints and muscles. Then make a cut large enough to pass your body into the cardboard. Make sure the hole is at the top, so the cardboard can rest on your shoulder when you wear it.
- To use it on your head, you just need to make a hole just enough for your head in the bottom of the box. Cut off any other parts you want, such as the eyes, or the mouth, before attaching the cardboard to your head. If your costume doesn't require a specific face shape, be sure to keep holes in the cardboard so you can breathe.
- The cutter blade is perfect for cutting cardboard.
- Examples of cardboard costumes include: a robot, a washing machine or clothes dryer, a car, a popcorn box, rolling dice, or a TV. Decorate the cardboard after you finish making the holes.
Step 4. Done
Tips
- Check what materials/objects you already have that you can use on costumes to keep costs down.
- If you're making clothes, make sure they don't fall off suddenly. You may need to put on underwear or tight clothing before getting into the costume just in case.
- Be sure to include the length of the hem in the pattern size if you are sewing your costume.
- If you don't want to make your own costume, but want a homemade costume look, you can buy homemade costumes online from websites like Etsy.com or head to a local clothing recycling store for homemade costumes.
