Toolbox
- fleece fabric in orange, yellow, and white
- fabric scissors and/or rotary cutter
- marker
- straight pins
- sewing machine and thread
- a dress or shirt that fits the child well
With Halloween fast approaching, it’s time once again to work on costumes. I learned last year while making Little Jo’s costume that fleece is a fantastic material to use on costumes, because it’s stretchy, warm, soft, forgiving, and doesn’t require hemming. I love it! I used fleece again this year to make costumes for the girls, and I want to show you the the candy corn costume I came up with for Jo’s younger daughter.
Making this costume just so happened to coincide with the “costume” theme for the Week 2 challenge at SYTYC. In fact, we won the challenge! We’re honored to have been chosen as the favorite, and hope some of our SYTYC fans are able to use this costume for their own kids.
To make this costume, you’ll need some fleece in orange, yellow, and white. For a toddler, a half yard of each should be plenty, but you may need more for an older child. You’ll also need a dress that fits the child very comfortably. This garment will be an integral part of the pattern. If your child is a boy, a shirt will work fine, but hold a tape measure up to him to see how long to make the costume.
To assemble the fleece into that familiar candy corn stripe*, you’ll first need to do a little bit of math. Start with the measurement from top to bottom of the dress. In my case, this was 18 inches. Then add three inches to that. For me, that made it 21 inches. Divide that measurement by three to get the height of each stripe. For my costume, that was 7 inches.
18″ + 3″ = 21″ / 3 = 7″
Use fabric scissors or a rotary cutter to cut a piece of each color of fleece with the height you determined above, and a width that’s at least as wide as the dress you’re modeling after.
Now sew the white piece to the yellow piece, and the yellow piece to the orange piece, creating a striped piece of fabric.
Then do it again! You’ll need two pieces of striped fleece. Stack them, right sides touching, on your table and smooth them out.
Use some straight pins on the sides to keep everything stable, and place the sample dress on top.
Use a marker to trace around the dress onto the fleece. Be pretty generous with the shape, especially around the arm holes, so that the child has plenty of room to move around comfortably. You also need to account for seam allowances, so give yourself a little extra fleece to work with.
Remove the dress and pin the layers together all around so they don’t move. Then use your fabric scissors to cut out the arm holes and the neck hole. This is where fleece is so amazing, because you don’t have to hem these cuts at all.
Now use the sewing machine to sew across the lines at the top of the shoulder strap, then cut away the excess.
By the way, have I mentioned lately how much I love my Singer Futura CE-150? It’s great for complicated embroidery or sewing projects, but it also handles simple projects like this with ease. Man, I really love this sewing machine!
Sew up the seams on the side of the costume and trim the excess. Make sure the bottom of the dress is cut straight, too.
Now just flip it inside out and you’re done.
Done? What? That was pretty easy, wasn’t it? I gotta give most of the credit to the fleece. Since that went so fast, let’s continue on with some accessories.
A hat would finish this off nicely, so let’s make one. Measure your child’s head and add one inch to that. For my costume, that was 18″+1=19″. Then cut three pieces of felt with that measurement for the width. The white piece should be 5″ tall and the yellow and orange pieces should be 3″ tall. Sew them together in a stripe, just as before.
Fold the striped piece in half, right sides together, and sew the ends together on the side.
Now measure the width of the hat (not counting the seam) and divide that by four. For me, that was 9″ / 4 = 2 1/4″. Put a pin this distance from the left and another one this distance from the right. On each side, sew a row of stitches from the pin down to the place where the yellow and orange fleece meets.
Pick the hat up and squish the white end so that the gap opens up. Pull the top and bottom flaps so that the gap is closed, and you have what looks like a cross shape. There should be no hole in the top anymore. Put some pins in to hold it in place.
Sew a row of stitches on each new flap, going from the center of the top down to the yellow/orange seam. Trim the excess and you should have a nice pointed beanie shape.
Flip it inside out and your hat is done!
If you’ve got some fleece left, why not add a matching treat bag?
Cut a piece of yellow fleece that’s 18″ x 3″ and pieces of white and orange that are each 18″ x 4″. Also cut a piece of orange that’s 18″ x 1.5″ for the handle. Setting the handle aside for now, sew the other three pieces together, just like you’ve done twice before.
Fold the striped piece over in half like you did with the hat, and this time sew up the side and the bottom. Flip the piece inside out.
To make the top a little sturdier, fold it in about a half inch, pin in place, and run a row of stitches all around the top.
Pin the handle to both sides and secure each end with a square of stitches.
And now the bag is all done, too!
Here are the finished pieces of the costume. They all match nicely and weren’t they easy to make? A comfortable sewer can easily whip this out in a half hour.
Jo put her daughter in a white shirt and orange tights to finish the look, and easily slipped the dress on. MiniMe couldn’t complain over such a soft and comfy costume, and she loved the bag, too.
For the finishing touch, Jo took some of MiniMe’s old shoes that she had almost outgrown and painted them to match with some of the ColorArtz
* NOTE: I realized after putting this post together that I actually put the colors in the wrong order! Proper candy corn
If you’re looking for more candy corn costume inspiration or accessories, check out these fashionable candy corn tights, this adorable candy corn princess costume, or these shiny candy corn patent leather shoes. I love them all!
33 comments so far:
Hmm – I wonder if this would work as an adult costume… On the other hand, I don’t sew… so probably not something I should tackle at this time.
Lisa, it would work as an adult costume. If you go through our Sewing 101 series, you could easily make this!
Yes! I knew that had to be yours when I voted. Congrats on the win. It was well deserved. It’s not only adorable but so doable (is that a word?).
Thanks, Baye!
Darn! I just knew that one was yours. It was between that one and the panda. Sorry again…lol. Can’t you give us dumb ones a hint?
Congrats! I voted for this…absolutely adorable!
Jan, don’t apologize. We’d rather you vote for your favorite than vote for ours just because it’s us. Keep picking what you like and it will all work out
Cute, cute, cute! I love it, that is a great project, thanks for sharing the tutorials.
It’s amazing! I voted for your crafts as my favorites!! They really were my favorites. I’m 2 for 2!
Thanks for posting this – your step by step instuctions withthe photos make it so easy to follow. And MiniMe looks so cute too!
aww so cute, my sisters wedding is soon, my daughter, Bethanighah would look great in this dress!
it’s a Halloween theme wedding!
Just stopping by to let you know that I have featured your project on Fun Family Crafts! You can see it here http://funfamilycrafts.com/candy-corn-costume/
Thanks for the link, Amanda!
Thanks you! I just made this costume for my 4 yro daughter. It was easy and cute. Great insturctions.
Thank you so much for the detailed instructions and pictures… I am not a sewer but I was able to follow the directions easily and never got frustrated.. Thank again and my two year old will look so cute! Do you have more links to others that you have made?
Beth, I’m so happy you enjoyed making this costume for your little one! We don’t have any other costume tutorials right now, but check back in the future, because you never know what we might add
Thank you so much! I made this for my daughter (16 months) and can’t wait to go trick or treating with her tomorrow! My husband requested a matching hat so I also made one for me and him!
Hah, I bet you and your husband look great in your hats, Kristin!
Hi there! This is SO CUTE! I have not sewed since I was 15 years old but I am seriously considering making this for my 21 month old daughter. We are in a very warm climate – I’m worried the fleece will be too hot. What other easy to use material could substitute – felt? Not even sure it would be all that cooler….
Brooke, if you don’t put a top underneath it, the fleece should be cool enough and the fabric is soft enough that you wouldn’t have to have the shirt underneath. Do it with sandals without socks and I think you should be fine!
Brooke, I echo Jo’s suggestion. As for alternate fabrics, you could use a lightweight cotton, but then you’ll have to hem all of the edges. The beauty about the fleece is that you don’t have to hem anything, so it makes for a really quick project.
Thanks guys!
I featured your darling candy corn costume on my website today. Thanks for making me look good.
The only thing cuter than that costumes is the sweet little girl inside of it!
Britt
ecofeltcrafts.com
Thank you!! My daughter will be 3 months old this Halloween and its so hard and expensive to find a costume. This turned out perfect for her and I’m not an expert when it comes to sewing. One piece of advice I will add is make sure the neck is big enough for your child’s head to fit through:)
Thank you:)
Good point about the neck hold, Kerri. At least with fleece you can always cut the hole bigger without having to re-hem it
Hello! I am making this for my halloween costume this year. I wanted to know if flannel would work with this project because my mom bought me like 3 yards!
I am sort-of a beginner to sewing so I just wanted to ask if I would need to then hem the raw edges *sigh*.
Thanks you
Georgia, you could theoretically use any fabric you like, although flannel is quite a bit thinner than fleece, so your finished costume might not “stand up” on the body as well as fleece would. Whether or not you want to hem the raw edges depends on how concerned you are with fraying. I don’t think flannel would fray too much, but I’m not sure.
Love this! Made three, one for my daughter and two nieces. I am crazy for candy corns!
Allison, I bet the three girls look adorable together!
Such a great costume! Inexpensive ($5 for the “dress”), fun, and easy! Made one for my 11 year old and she will pair it with skinny jeans, flats, and orange ribbons in her hair. She wanted to be a candy corn so I’m so glad I found your tutorial. Thank you for the photos and detailed instructions — it really helped!
Rebecca, I’m so happy you enjoyed our tutorial!
Thank you for this pattern. I had to use cotton and lots of interfacing(heavy duty)to make the one I made because I am allergic to fleece. I too went Yellow, orange and white from the bottom up and I shaped the bottom curved like the top of the candy corn. I made the hat all white to be the tip of the corn. At first I thought the hat was going to be a challenge but it was a breeze even though I only used one color. I just used you measurement of 3″. I have to say I am pretty proud of it and the little girl (8) loves it. So once again thank you. I will mark your site as a favorite.
Thanks for the positive report, Bonnie! Sounds like you were very resourceful with the fabric and made one happy little girl