Following on from my Dinosaur Dig party post…
No dinosaur party is complete without bright and happy dino costumes to inspire ample roaring and prehistoric grunting from little people. Here’s the first part of the costume (the dinosaur head). If you think your dinototters need tails, follow the links to the pattern following.
What you’ll need (to make 12 heads):
120cm x 160cm green (or other colour) thin fleece
120cm x 40cm of orange felt (felt can be pricey, so stiffer or thicker material or fleece also works fine)
60cm x 20cm square of white felt
50cm x 60cm of orange thin fleece for the straps (or use any sort of off cut material with a bit of pull)
Good sewing scissors
Extra felt or other scrap material pieces for eyes (buttons would also look great if you have the patience to sew them on)
Material compatible glue
Needle and thread (for reinforcing those eyes)
A sewing machine, cotton thread, machine needles
I’m not one for perfection in sewing I’m afraid, and I really do believe that most flaws are only visible to yourself, so just let it go and have fun. I think this way of thinking is a bi-product of my love of making something from nothing, which almost always means having to be very flexible (even the scraps were used in this task). However, here is how I made the twelve little dino costumes (which seem to have remained a staple dress-up item in our friends’ dressing up baskets ever since). The wonderful thing about fleece and felt is that you don’t need to hem your work, just keep your cutting out clean and the material does the rest for you. Give the material a bit of a tug when you’re done, it will (magically) roll a clean hem for you.
How to do it:
Cut all your templates out (link below) using stiffish cardboard. My favourite source is an old cereal box – never fails me.
1. Cut out your template shape for the heads.
2. Fold your green fleece in half with the ‘wrong’ side facing out. Using your cardboard template, cut 12 heads. Cut along the ‘fold’ line in each (you’ll end up with two pieces that you’ll need to sew together with the spikes between them).
3. Cut out your head ‘spikes template’. Lay the template on the orange felt and cut pieces back to back to maximise your material.
4. Lie the orange spikes on each head. Sew a single (reinforced at each end) line using your machine to attach the spines to the head, along the fold line and top. Make sure you’ve laid your spikes out so that they’ll stick up the right side up. The trick to this is that when you sew, you should be sewing two green sides together, with the non-spiky side of the orange felt wedged between the two.
5. Cut out your teeth template shape (20cm long). Lay the template on the white felt and cut pieces back to back to maximise your material.
6. Lie the white teeth on your heads. Sew on the underside, where the child’s forehead will be.
7. Cut out a 50cm x 5cm thin strip of fleece (I used off-cuts for this part from old orange fleece I had). Sew along the base of your head, leaving equal end amounts hanging off. This will be the strap to keep the head on.
8. Cut out assorted round pieces of felt and glue / sew these on as eyes. I used glue but found it wasn’t strong enough so added a hand stitch to each when they dried.
Dinosaur Head Costume Pattern PDF Template
Shoestring Tip: My template gives measurements and shapes for you, there’s no need to be painstakingly exact, grab a ruler and pencil and build your template to meet my suggested sizing. To be honest, I made an extra head from leftover material – it was a bit smaller but this wasn’t at all noticeable when plonked upon the baby brother.
My Magic Shoestring 