Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Better Homes & Gardens

Make a DIY Clown Costume for Kids

BH&G Holiday Editors

A few whimsical embellishments on an ordinary set of children's long underwear makes this kid's costume so easy! Make the embellishments in your child's favorite colors to make this easy kids costume one-of-a-kind. The facepaint is optional but we think it makes the clown come to life!

This costume doesn't require intense sewing skills but you will need to know how to use a needle and thread, so you may want to brush up on the sewing basics before getting started.

clown costume, Halloween, Costume
clown costume, Halloween, Costume

How to Make a Clown Costume

Supplies Needed

  • 40x18-inch piece of blue fabric

  • Blue thread and sewing needle

  • Two 12-inch pieces of blue ribbon

  • Blue yarn

  • Children's long underwear set

  • Yellow dot paint marker

  • Hat pattern

  • Yellow poster board

  • Hot-glue gun and glue sticks

  • Single-hole punch

  • 3 blue felt balls

Step-by-Step Directions

Follow these easy instructions to learn how to make a kids clown costume this Halloween. It shouldn't take longer than an hour to assemble the costume.

clown costume step 3
clown costume step 3

Step 1: Cut the Collar

To make the ruffled collar, fold the blue fabric in half lengthwise. An inch from the folded edge, sew a gathering stitch and leave the thread at the end.

clown costume step 4
clown costume step 4
clown costume step 5
clown costume step 5

Step 2: Cinch Ruffles

Pull the end threads to gather the fabric. Stitch the neck edge to hold the gathers. Sew a piece of ribbon at each end. Make sure each piece is long enough to attach the collar.

clown costume step 2
clown costume step 2

Step 3: Make the Poms

To make your own yarn pom-poms, wrap blue yarn around your hand several times. Slide off your hand and tie a piece of yarn tightly around the middle to secure. Cut the loops of yarn, and fluff into a pom-pom, trimming any long yarn ends for a uniform look. Don't worry about making too many: There are so many ways to use pom-poms! When you're done, hand-stitch the pom-poms to the shirt.

clown costume step 6
clown costume step 6

Step 4: Paint the Dots

Use the paint marker to decorate the long underwear. Add spots all over in a contrasting color, or switch it up by painting multicolor spots!

clown costume step  1
clown costume step 1

Step 5: Make the Hat

Roll a large piece of poster board into a cone shape. Overlap the long edge, and cut off the excess; hot-glue into place. Hot-glue the three blue felt balls to the front of the hat. Punch a hole along the bottom edge on each side and tie a piece of yarn through each hole. These strings will tie under the child's chin.

Advertisement
Advertisement