This is the fox costume I made from scratch. I take classes at a theater group called CYT, and at the end of each session, we present a showcase of what we learned in class. Recently, our class presented Peter Pan and I was the fox. We are not required to have an elaborate costume, but we like to create things, so mom took this as a time to teach me more.
I started off by cutting out and sewing together the vest on the machine, then adding the buttons by hand. (Threading a needle can be hard!) I dug through our button stash to find cool black textured buttons. I ironed all the fabric and we talked about how to move the iron, how to change settings for different fabric, and how to use steam. On the outside we used a soft velour fabric which gave a fur-like texture without sewing fur. On the inside, we lined the vest with a dark orange satin. The lining hides the seams, makes the vest move easily while I perform, and helps the velour stay in shape – because velour is kind of stretchy. Both fabrics were on sale because the were leftover from the fall season.
Once the vest was done, we worked on the fingerless gloves. It was really easy! We measured my arm, then cut a rectangle of fabric. We sewed the long side of the rectangle together, but left an opening for my thumb.
The ears were pretty easy! We bought a black hat from Hobby Lobby, then cut ear shapes from black craft foam. We had yarn that is like fur! I attached white yarn to the inside of the ear with hot glue, and glued black yarn around the edge to hide the foam and look like a real fox ear. Then we used a curved upholstery needle to sew the ears onto the hat. It’s really light weight and because we sewed a curve into each ear, they stay upright on the hat.
My brother made the feet for me using black craft foam. We researched a fox paw on the internet, looking at pictures and discussing the shape. Then he drew a foot bigger than my foot, used a heat gun to shape a curve into it, and added a wide elastic band so that this slips right over my shoes.
The tail was fun! Mom measured from my waist to just below my knees. Then we drew a long football shape onto paper, re-drawing until we liked it looked. We sewed two buttonholes at the top of the tail, then sewed the tail together, leaving it open at the top. We stuffed, and stuffed, and STUFFED fluff into the tail. My sister used more white fur yarn and a big eye yarn needle to embellish the tip of the tail and make it look more like a fur tail. Finally, we threaded a belt we found at a thrift store into the buttonholes we sewed at the top of the tail. This makes the tail really easy to attach to my waist, and to adjust it for someone of a different size to wear.
And it was done! Ready for showcase!
