Peter Pan Costume and Tutorial

Baby P's costume is ready with five days to go til Halloween! All we need is a sword. This was a pretty simple costume, here are the details!

Materials:

about a yard of green felt (I had a bunch leftover after making a size 18-24 month costume)

several pre-cut squares of felt (for the feathers, I used yellow and red)

about a yard of stretch knit or a pair of baby leggings (you could use an old stretchy t-shirt for this)

a long strip of dark brown fabric, 2.5 " by your desired length (I used corduroy, you could use faux suede, felt, etc...)

1/4 to 1/2 a yard of dark brown fabric for the shoe covers (I used the same corduroy as the belt)

2, 2 inch D-rings

Hot glue gun or quick drying fabric glue

For the Tunic, use an already owned loose-fitting shirt for a template. Add some extra width and length (I wanted mine to be about knee length), and since felt doesn't stretch so you'll need the width to get it on and off.

I traced the shirt then folded the felt in half for cutting so I would have perfectly symmetrical arm holes.

Here you see the back piece with just a slightly scooped neck and a front piece with a scoop and a slit about 4 inches down the middle. Stitch the front and back pieces together at the shoulders.

For the sleeves, use your template shirt, the top of the sleeve is on the fold. Add some extra width and a seam allowance. After putting the shirt on Baby P, he was looking a little too much like Robin Hood so I cut the sleeves off short. You'll see long sleeves in some of the pictures, it's totally up to you, Peter Pan has raggedy short sleeves.

Pin the sleeve pieces to the front and back at the shoulder. Match the center top of the sleeve to the shoulder seam and work outward. Stitch. (Leave the sleeve and sides open!)

Now you will have sort of a poncho type shape, pin at sides and sleeve opening, matching raw edges. Now it's easy to close up the tunic with one long seam, pivoting at the 'armpit.' Do this on both sides.

Now take your disappearing ink marker and draw irregular "triangles" around the edge of the sleeves and the bottom of the tunic, cut them out. You can either stop here, or add the Peter Pan collar (Hee hee) like I did.

This is a simple Peter Pan collar. You cut it out in three pieces. The front two pieces are identical, they need to follow the curve of the neckline on the top edge and the slope of the shoulder on the top side edge. The back piece mirrors the curve of the neckline on the top edge and the slope of the shoulders on both top side edges. Stitch the collar together (matching shoulder seams) and then pin the RIGHT side of the collar to the WRONG side of the tunic. Stitch and turn collar to the outside, press and topstitch along the seam.

The Hat!!

Peter Pan Hat PDF

Click on the link above to download or print a copy of my hat pattern for personal use only, please. Templates for the feathers are also included. There are some brief instructions on the pattern.

For the feathers, fold one of the sheets of felt in half. With the disappearing marker, sketch out a feather shape. I wanted mine dramatically large and draping in one direction.

Pin the two layers together and cut. Now, stitch up the middle, around the edges and add some curving lines for a feathery appearance.

I stuck with two feathers, but a third in orange would have been cute too. Overlap them artistically and place them where you want, secure with a dab or two of hot glue to keep them in place. I also added a fine elastic string to keep it on Baby P's head!!

Shoe Covers



 Lay your child's shoe on the fabric and trace around it, leaving enough room for seam allowance and for the width of the shoe. I wanted a slightly pointed toe and enough height that I could fold over about 2 inches. You'll need four pieces like this. Choose two and pin them right sides together. Stitch the back from the top back corner to the heel and stop. Now hem the top and bottom edges, I just turned under about 1/4".

Now you will have a piece that looks like this. Fold the top of the shoe cover down, right sides together (how much you fold over is up to you). 

Sew along both side edges and stop. Now you will be able to flip this fold inside out to become the sort of "cuff" of your shoe. Like Peter Pan's. :)

Now pin the shoe right sides together, matching toes and bottom edge, stitch from just insideyour "cuff" to the toe, then down the front to the sole and stop. Be sure to forward and back stitch securely since these will take a bit of a beating. Add an elastic piece underneath the shoe if you think you need it.

The belt was easy peasy. Cut a strip of brown fabric 2.5 inches wide and as long as you need for your child's waist plus some for overlap. Fold the strip in half longways with right sides together, pin, stitch across one end and all the way down the open side. Turn right sides out. Fold in the raw edges of the open end and stitch closed. Edge stitch if you want (this adds a little stability, I sewed around the entire outside and one line down the middle). Take the D-rings and thread one end of the belt through both of them, fold the end over them (only an inch or two) and stitch so that the D-rings are now attached by a small loop to one end of the belt. (you can see this pretty well in the picture) The free end goes through both loops, around one and out through the other. Voila! Belt!

Tights

I referred to Made by Rae's "Baby Tights Tutorial" except I made leggings and added a "baby bum extending panel" like the kind on toddler pajama pants. That is the technical term in case you were wondering. :) This is some bamboo knit I had lying around from a project a couple of years ago. It's a yellowish green color, exactly what I wanted for Peter Pan!!

I had no luck getting this little guy to sit still for a picture. He's on the move and almost ready to go take down Captain Hook!

I think it turned out really cute! This might be the only time I will see my boy's chunky, little legs in tights. Funny and adorable! My favorite parts are the shoe covers and the hat--gotta love pointy toes and gigantic feathers!