Homemade Children’s Bear Costume

All the elements of this time of the year kind of conspire to make this easy DIY costume happen. First, it’s the best time to buy sweatshirts, but especially sweatshirts and sweatpants matching sets. Second, it’s just now getting chilly enough to wear sweaters, and it will no doubt feel like full-blown autumn by the time Halloween rolls around. 

Finally, this year is perfect for DIY everything. While many people at home are discovering crafting for the first time or rediscovering their abilities behind a sewing machine, we’re going to see a lot of homemade children’s costumes. That doesn’t mean you need to construct something from scratch. It just means you need a bit of creative thinking and a tiny bit of time. 

Finding Your Materials

The biggest part of this costume is actually purchased, and the whole thing is quite useful (and adorable) for long after Halloween. 

You’ll need:

• Brown sweat suit (hoodie and sweatpants) to fit your little one 
• Tan scrap of fleece 
• Dark brown fleece scraps
• Matching thread
• Sewing machine
• Scissors

Making a Tiny Bear Costume 

Start by taking the tan scrap of fleece and creating a circle that will fit nicely over the hoodie's belly. You will be covering the pockets, and you want to have a big hairy bear belly! You don’t need a fancy ruler, either. For most kids under the age of three, you can probably get away with using a bowl for a cutout, and for older kids, you might go up to dinner plate-sized. Sometimes the best crafting tools are things you find around the house. 

Pin the circle into place on the hoodie and sew it on with a zig-zag stitch. As a special note, leave the zipper available, do not sew over it. You’ll need to pull the zipper down a little to get it over their head. 

Then, make the ears by cutting out four big bear ear shapes on the darker brown fleece. These should be about 3-inches wide. Make an addition to two smaller bear ear shapes in the light brown or tan fleece scraps. For the ears, you’ll want to sew the tan fleece onto the front portion of the ears first. Use a zig-zag stitch to keep it consistent with the bear belly. 

Afterward, you’ll take the pieces you just made and put them right sides together with the other earpieces or the ‘back’ of the earpieces. Stitch those ears up with a 1/4-inch seam allowance, leave the bottom open for flipping, and clip your corners. 

To add the bear ears to the hoodie, you’ll measure in 3-inches from the front of the hoodie and 3-inches down from the center seam on the hood. Cut a three-inch-long slit at this point, on both sides of the center seam. 

Poke your bear ears into place and turn in the raw edges from the hoodie. Stitch them closed, and now your ears are secure. Now you can have a little cub for the Halloween season!