DIY Peacock Costume

September 05, 2017

DIY Peacock Costume

So excited to share with you this darling Peacock Halloween Costume.

Usually my daughter goes for spooky or scary see HERE and HERE.

Last year when we were brainstorming costume ideas my daughter bounced around a lot of ideas and eventually landed on peacock -- due mostly to the fact that she had just been on a field trip to a farm and owned her very own peacock feather.

I searched around for some good ideas for a peacock and couldn't find anything that suited my fancy-- a lot of them were Va-va-voom, NO thanks! And a few were not quite what I had inmind.

So, I stewed for weeks and weeks trying to figure out a good plan for this costume.

I happened to be in my sewing scrap pile, looking for something else, when I came across this maxi dress (purchased from Wal-mart several years ago). I wore it twice when I was pregnant and everyone commented on how HUGE I was. It was quickly thrown in the scrap pile after the baby was born.

Once I saw it, while still mulling over peacock ideas in my head, it quickly spoke to me--

REUSE-- REFASHION -- PEACOCK!

I almost used the entire dress for the costume and it worked perfectly!

Here's how to make your own!

MATERIALS:

1. Maxi dress or green knit fabric

2. Sewing supplies

3. Thick poster board

4. Glue gun

5. Acrylic paint + brush

6. Headband, pipe cleaners, three puff balls.

STEP ONE: Cut the dress where needed.

I cut the bottom for the feathers. I left the top for the skirt.

And I reused the straps.

STEP TWO: With right sides together, cut out the feathers.

Pin the pieces together.

Do a quick sew around the feathers from the left side to the right side, leaving the bottom open.

Clip all the curved edges, so they will turn properly.

STEP THREE: Turn right side out and make sure everything looks good.

STEP FOUR: Using the sewn feathers as a guide, cut out the insert feathers from a thick poster board.

I had a leftover poster board from the dollar store, which I reused, with lots of creative cutting and taping, plus a little cardboard for that one chunk that I ran out of poster board.

STEP FIVE: Using your model, determine where the four holes should be for the straps, using a knife or scissors, cut out the strap holes.

Place the cardboard inside the knit feathers, hopefully everything is a perfect fit!

STEP SIX: Sketch out the feathers and base, where they belong.

I used this image for help.

STEP SEVEN: Start painting!

I used acrylic craft paint that dries really fast and it worked great!

You can see my order below.

I left it to dry over night, then the next day I flipped it over and did the exact same painting on the other side.

STEP EIGHT: Once everything has dried. Feel the straps that you cut out of the poster board, and use scissors to cut four (front and back) slits into the fabric.