How to Make a Lion Costume
When you want your roar to be bigger than you are...Lion costumes are extremely popular at Halloween, particularly among young boys. After all, everyone loves to run around roaring and scaring people! Make this fast, easy and durable lion costume with just felt, a glue gun and a sweatsuit.
When Halloween draws near, every kid wants a great costume. However, you may not have the money to buy a costume from a store or the time to sew one from the ground up. Furthermore, many store bought costumes are cheaply made and can cause allergic reactions in kids with sensitive skin. Wouldn't it be better to make them a costume that can become a permanent part of their dress-up repertoire for years to come, or can double as a pair of comfy pajamas? Of course it would. And you do not need any sewing skills or more than about 45 minutes to put this clever and adorable little lion costume together for your tiny trick-or-treater.  |
| Felt and a sweatsuit are all it takes to get this adorable look. |
To make this lion costume, you will need several different things. You must have a glue gun and scissors. The rest of the items you can adapt to make this costume work, but it is vital that you have a strong pair of scissors and a fully loaded glue gun. You also need a hooded brown sweatsuit. Obviously, if your lion wants to be pink or purple or green, then you can have one of those colors instead. For the purposes of this example, however, you will need a brown sweatsuit that has a hoodie for a top. You will also need several yards of brown felt, a large piece of yellow felt, brown and yellow yarn and pink felt. Make sure that you have a clear workspace and are near an outlet so that you can keep the glue gun hot.
First, cut out about thirty strips of brown felt and thirty strips of yellow felt. They should be an inch to two inches wide and at least six inches long. They do not have to all be exactly the same length or width. If you wish to keep your lion's mane a little less full, then you can cut out twenty strips each or even ten. Remember, you can always add more. Once you have the strips cut, lay them aside for the time being and move on to the ears. These should be two large triangles of brown felt with two smaller triangles of pink felt glued inside them. The base of the triangles can be anywhere from three to five inches long, depending on the size of the lion in question. Once you have your ears and your mane, then it is time to start attaching things to the sweatsuit.
Start with the ears. You will glue them to the front edge of the hoodie so that when it is worn over the head, the ears stick up on the top or out to the sides of the face, depending on where your lion wants them. Use a thick line of glue on the back of the base of the ears. You will need to hold each ear in position with one hand while you apply a thick line of glue with the other. The glue will dry in about 20 seconds, so just continue to hold the ear upright until the glue dries. It may flop over once you let go, but this is okay. If you want, you can prop it up with a small cardboard piece later. Once your ears are in place, move on to the mane. Use the same process to attach one of the thin ends of each piece of mane around the hood of the sweatshirt. Go all the way around so that your lion has a full mane with no bald spots. You may wish to make several layers for a thicker, more feline look.
At this point, your lion's head is complete. He still needs paws and a tail, however. For the tail, cut out a thin piece of felt that is about two feet long. Tie ten to twenty short pieces of string around one end of the tail. Glue the other end to the waistband of the sweatpants. Next, trace your lion's hands onto a piece of brown felt and cut around the prints. However, as you cut, cut slightly outside of the lines that indicate the fingers, and do not cut in between the fingers. The result will be a set of paws. Trace each paw onto the felt and cut it out so that you have two sets of paws. Glue the edges of the paws together, leaving the wrist end open. These paws will fit over the hands like gloves or mittens. If you wish, use the yellow felt to cut out two large circles and six small ones. Glue one large circle and three small ones to the underside of each paw to make paw pads for your lion.
At this point, your lion costume is finished. However, you do not have to stop there. Some people like to give their lion a circular, yellow belly by gluing a large yellow felt circle or oval to the front of the sweatshirt. Most lions also like to have their noses blacked with face paint and have whiskers drawn onto their faces. If you are really in the spirit, you might even get a lion face painting kit that will help you draw on fur, whiskers and even cat eyes. You can also get contacts that look like cat eyes or fake fur to attach to the face to make your lion look even more realistic.  |
| Elaborate face painting makes this lion more authentic. |
Although hot glue dries fairly quickly, you should allow at least an hour for everything to dry. This will give you a chance to observe the costume as the glue dries and note any areas that do not appear to have sufficient adhesive. Add more glue as you see it is needed. Once the costume is dry, have your lion try it on. You will be able to spot areas that may need more fortification or spots in the mane where the felt strips are hanging strangely and giving your lion a bit of mange. Once you have added the finishing touches to the costume, place it in a safe place until it is ready to be worn.
