Alright, so I decided to make an adult penguin costume. Let’s dive into how I went about it!
Getting Started: Materials
First things first, I needed to gather my supplies. I hit up the local craft store and grabbed:
- Black fabric: Lots of it, for the main body. I went with a felt-like material because it’s cheap and easy to work with.
- White fabric: For the penguin’s belly, of course. Same material as the black.
- Orange fabric: Just a bit, for the feet and beak.
- Stuffing: To give the costume some shape. Got a big bag, just in case.
- Thread: Black, white, and orange, to match the fabrics.
- Scissors: Gotta cut that fabric!
- Sewing machine: Could have done this by hand, but the machine makes it way faster.
- Pins: To hold everything in place while sewing.
- Pattern (optional): Used some old Pajamas as model.
Making the Body
I started with the body. Since the design is kinda loose, I just used a baggy pajama set of mine, I pinned the pajamas to the black fabric and cut around, leaving about an inch extra for seams. I did the same for the front, but cut a big oval out of the middle for the white belly.
Then, I sewed the black pieces together along the sides, leaving holes for the arms and head. I sewed the white belly onto the front piece. Make sure to pin first. Don’t wanna mess it up!
Adding the Details
Next up, the hood!
I cut out two half-circle-ish shapes from the black fabric and sewed them together, leaving the bottom open to fit over my head.
For the feet, I sketched out some flipper shapes on the orange fabric, cut them out (two for each foot), and sewed them together, leaving a bit open to stuff them. Then, I stuffed ’em and sewed them shut. I attached these to the bottom of the costume legs, kinda like oversized slippers.
Finishing Touches
Finally, It’s all come together. I tried on the costume and made a few adjustments.
And that’s it! My very own adult penguin costume. It was a bit of a project, but totally worth it. The whole thing was surprisingly comfy, too. Perfect for waddling around in!