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Little Pig Costume (with ears and snout)

My 7-year-old, Elli, is in 1st grade.  This is the year her curious brain has blossomed.  She’s reading like crazy, writing notes and short stories on scratch paper, and creating elaborate games that she insists we all play together as a family.  She even plans parties and performances that we all must attend, down in the basement…..complete with invitations, posters, and costumes. Ha…..this girl has a busy little brain!

 

A couple months ago, she found out that all the 1st graders would be participating in a musical, about the 3 Little Pigs.  She was so excited.  Because, yes, this sort of thing is right up her alley.  She came home one day and told me all about the musical and explained that anyone who wanted to, could wear a piggy costume to the performance.  She asked if that’s something that I could make her and ummmmm, well, hmmmm……...OKAY!!!  (Don’t have to ask me twice, kid!)  As the time grew closer to the actual performance (and I still hadn’t made her costume…typical, ha!) I asked her what she thought most of the other kids were wearing.  She said the music teacher said they could wear a dress, overalls, or just jeans and a plain Tshirt……and she said most kids would be wearing just that.  Before cutting up pieces of candy pink fleece fabric, I asked her if she was SURE she wanted to have a costume, even if possibly no one else had one.  She insisted, YES!  Okay…….done.

 

 

And good grief, why is this stuff so fun for me to make?!!  Yards of pink fleece, a homemade knobby snout, perky little piggy ears, and yes…..a springy pink tail.

 

I could just sit and make fun little costumes all day long……because I thoroughly enjoy it. 

 

     

 

 

 

 

The bodice for the pig is almost identical to the Penguin Costume and similar to the Pascal Costume I have made previously.  A simple shape with a cinched in elastic bottom…….and the belly stuffed with a bit of batting.  And yep, I made a quick pair of Simple Leggings to be worn on the bottom.  Then add a white shirt, some ears, and a snout…..you have a Simple Piggy Costume.

 

 

 

 

 

 ELLI. WAS. THRILLED. 

And proudly told me that after the play is over…..she could put it in her dress-ups and wear it any time she wanted to.  Yep, go right ahead little miss!

 

 

 

 

 

All of the 1st graders actually all had matching paper plate masks that they wore for the musical…..so she didn’t actually wear the snout and ears for the performance.  But once she said she’d add this to her dress-ups, I had to make her something that would last longer than a paper plate.  (Plus, now others can see how simple it is to make.)

 

 

 

 

 

The week leading up to the performance, Elli came home every day, practicing those silly piggy songs and asking if her costume was done yet.  Ack……not yet! 

 

 

 

 

 

The night before her actual performance, I finished.  Of course. ;)

 

She slipped right into her Piggy Costume and began crawling around, snorting, and singing her songs from the musical. 

 

And that, right there, is why I agreed to make her a Pig Costume.  Completely satisfying!

 

 

We attended the performance last week……and it was darling!  And like all of the other parents there, we proudly gushed over every song and and action she performed.

 

Such a cute Little Piggy.

 

 

 

Would you like to make a Piggy Costume for dress-ups?

(Or maybe save this idea for Halloween…)

 

Let’s get started…

 

Supplies: (this is how much I needed for my 7 year old, adjust as necessary)

  • Pink fleece, 1 yard
  • Lighter pink fleece, 1/2 yard
  • zipper
  • Paper cups
  • elastic, 1/8 inch (for the piggy snout and around the base of the main costume)
  • black felt/fleece, scrap pieces (for the snout)
  • headband
  • plastic canvas mesh
  • hot glue gun

 

First of all, time to tackle the main body of the piggy costume.  I made it just like the Penguin Costume, that I made years ago, and similar to the Pascal Costume that I made last year.  So I just grabbed a Tshirt of Elli’s that fit her now, used it as a pattern to create the main shape of the bodice and then angled it outward to create a more A-line shape to the costume.  I constructed everything exactly the same as the Penguin Costume…..however the belly section (that’s lighter pink) is an oval shape that doesn’t reach the top or bottom of the bodice section.  While sewing the lighter pink oval to the bodice, I left a gap along one side to stuff some batting…..and then sewed it closed. 

 

 

 

 

However, you need a curly little tail.  And here’s how I created mine:

 

Cut a circle out of felt (mine was about 7-8 inches in diameter).  If it’s not perfect, it won’t hurt a thing.

Then, you’re going to be cutting a spiral line in towards the center of the circle.  This will create the curl to the tail when it hangs.

 

 

Because a visual is easier than explaining, cut a spiral out of your circle like the one below.  Notice that the curve of the tail makes about a complete circle and then about another half…..that will give you a good amount of curve and spring to the tail without getting too tiny to turn right side out.  Just be sure to cut one straight line at the very start of the spiral….because this is the edge that will be attached to the pig later on.  And get rid of the center piece that you don’t need either.

 

 

 

Place your spiral tail piece on top of another piece of fleece and cut out an identical piece.

 

 

 

Sew the two spiral pieces together, using a 1/4 inch seam allowance and leaving the straight edge open for turning.

 

 

Turn the spiral piece right side out.  I found it helpful to use the eraser end of a pencil and shoved the tip of the tail into itself and then worked my way through the entire tail.  Then I shoved the pointy end of the pencil back through the tail to poke the tip of the tail out.

 

 

You may have to twist the fabric in the right direction……but you should have a nice spiraled piggy tail.

 

 

Pin to the back of the piggy costume and have the child try it on.  Adjust the placement if necessary.  Then, un-pick the seam along the center back of the costume, right where you want to attach the tail.  Insert the tail, sew it in place, and then re-sew the seam of the costume closed.

 

 

 

 

Don’t forget the leggings.

 

I made a quick pair, using the Simple Leggings Tutorial but you could also just put on a pair that you already have…..or buy a pair.  I just wanted bright pink striped leggings, so I made them. 

 

 

 

 

Next, the snout.

 

To create the snout, I placed 3 small paper cups together (you know, the really cheap dixie cups that are used in the bathroom for kids) and cut the tops off, creating a snout that is deep enough to fit over the child’s nose.  (You could use the bottom of a styrofoam cup, or a toilet paper roll, etc……anything that will provide a nice snout shape.)

 

 

 

Glue the 3 cups together and then place a piece of elastic across the inside of the cups.  (The elastic should be plenty large enough to fit around the child’s head and be tied in a knot.  I just left plenty of extra so I could adjust later.)  Glue the middle of the elastic piece down to the inside of the bottom of the cups.

 

 

 

Then cut a circle piece of fleece that is larger than the cups and can fold up and over to the inside of the cups.

 

 

 

Begin folding one of the edges in towards the inside of the cup and glue in place. 

 

 

 

Cut a slit in the fleece right where the elastic comes up.

 

 

 

Fold the slit of the fleece around the elastic and glue the fleece down the the cup.  Continue all the way around the cup, gluing the fleece in place.

 

 

 

Turn the snout over and glue 2 black oval fleece (or felt) pieces right to the front of the snout.  Your snout is now ready to be placed on the child and the two ends of the elastic knotted on the back of their head, depending on how big/small you need it.

 

 

 

 

 

And finally, the ears.

 

Cut an ear shape out of paper, to use as your template.  Any shape or size will do.  (Hold it up to your headband or your child’s head and get a visual for whether it looks like the right size or not.)  Fold your fleece in half and place the flat edge of the ear along the fold of the fabric. 

 

 

 

Cut around the paper ear, creating your pig ear piece for the headband.  (Keep in mind, the fabric is still connected along the flat bottom edge of the ear.)

 

 

 

Cut out another ear and sandwich each ear around the headband to check for size and placement.

 

 

 

Next, cut a piece of canvas mesh that is about 1/4 inch smaller than the fleece ear size along the sides and however much shorter along the bottom so that it can rest along the headband and remain smaller than the fleece ear.  Cut a small curve along the bottom of the mesh ear shape, so that it will rest along the curve of the headband.  Cut another mesh ear exactly the same way.

 

 

 

Then glue both mesh ears right to the headband, positioned exactly how you’d like them.  (it’s helpful to place the headband on the child and then hold the mesh ears up to the headband.)

 

 

Then sandwich each of the fleece ears around the mesh ears…

 

 

……add glue and fold in half, securing the ear in place.

 

 

Cut out a lighter pink piece of fleece that’s slightly smaller than the large ear shape and glue it right onto each ear.

 

 

 

And that’s it.  An entire Little Piggy Costume!

 

 

 

Enjoy!

Ashley

 

 

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Ashley Johnston

Administrator at Make It & Love It
Ashley Johnston is a professional DIY costume maker, sewist, crafter, and owner of Make It & Love It. She is a mom of 5 and a wife to a very patient (with the craft clutter) husband. In case you’re wondering, she always chooses crafting/sewing/designing over mopping/dusting/wiping base boards……but bathrooms/laundry/full bellies are always attended to. Whew!

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Hi, I'm Ashley

Hi, I’m Ashley—the DIY-enthusiast behind this crazy blog!

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