DIY Shark Costume
(using Fruit of the Loom® full zip hoodie)
DIY Shark Costume
Looking for a fun family costume? How about a shiver of sharks? With just a Fruit of the Loom Full Zip Hoodie or a Fruit of the Loom Hoodie Sweatshirt and some craft supplies, you can make an amazingly comfortable costume in less than an hour.
Estimated Cost: $30 or less
Costume garments:
Fruit of the Loom Fleece Full Zip Hoodie(charcoal heat her)
or Eversoft Fleece Full Zip Hoodie Sweatshirt (blac k heather)
Costume supplies:
1 piece white felt
1 piece red felt
3 pieces gray felt
Fabric marker
2 large googly eyes
Items you need but may already have:
Hot glue sticks
Hot glue gun
Scissors
Fiber fill
Optional:
Finger protection for hot glue gun, Boys' Elastic Bottom Sweatpants, Adult Eversoft® Fleece Sweatpants.
Start with the templates!
The shark fins should be on 11”x17” paper, all other pieces can be printed on standard 8.5”x11” paper. Cut out all the paper pieces.
Cut Your Felt Pieces!
The shark gums will be made of red felt. You will need three of these (or if you have long strips of felt, make one strip three times the length of the “gums” template). Trace your template on the red felt. Next, cut out your shark fins from gray felt. Last, you have the teeth, which will be cut out of the white felt. Your template is for one set of teeth, you will need to use this to cut out three sets of teeth. If your felt is long enough, all three sets of teeth can be from one strip of felt.
Assemble the shark fin
Lay your two shark fins on top of each other. On each of the edges that make up the point, glue using one line of glue. You will leave the bottom of the fin open for now. Later, you will need this to be open to stuff the fin.
Stuff it and seal it!
Once the glue is dry, turn inside-side out to have clean outside edges. Glue the open edge almost closed, tucking the bottom into the fin.
Finishing the fin
Turn, tuck, fill, and glue—your fin is nearly ready to attach.
Add the gums and teeth
If you have short sections of gums, go ahead and glue then into one long continuous piece. Do the same with the teeth. We will start by attaching the gums. First you will glue the red felt to the outside of the hood. You want to glue just the edge to the outside, with most of the felt hanging over the edge toward the face. This will get wrapped around the edge of the hood.
Wrap the edge for a clean finish
When you are ready to glue the inside edge, glue just shy of the free edge of the felt so you have a little extra red felt to wrap around the teeth.
Attach teeth for a finished look
Next, glue the teeth to the felt that is inside edge of the hood. Once you have that glued, you will glue the small edge that is still loose to the teeth. The result should be a set of teeth that looks like it has gums on both sides.
Attaching the fin
You will attach the fin to the back of the sweatshirt. Use the center seam of the hood as your guide. Choose the position on the back of the shirt and glue your fin. You may want to reinforce this with some simple sewing – if this costume is for an adult, safety pins would work.
Add the eyes!
It’s the last step! The easiest way to get the eye placement is to flip the hood so the top of the hood is visible. Place your googly eyes on either side of the center seam. When you are happy with the placement, get the glue.
Cozy, comfy, and complete!
You are finished! You’ve just made a shark costume so cozy they will want to wear it long after Halloween is over.