How to Create a Dalmatian Puppy Costume

Make the neighborhood trick-or-treat rounds this year with your own little bundle of puppy love. Here's an easy-to-make costume perfect for your baby's first Halloween.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Round Hobby Paintbrushes
• Baby Sleeper Suits
• Baby Turtlenecks
• Infant/toddler's Warm Socks/booties
• Dressmaker Shears
• Fabric Paints
• Needles
• Threads

1. Gather your materials. You'll need a white, one-piece, full-length, long-sleeved sleeper that fits your baby; white baby socks; a white baby turtleneck shirt; black fabric paint; a 1-inch, round-tip art brush; fabric shears; a pen; a needle; and white thread.

2. Use the fabric paint to paint black dots of varying sizes on the sleeper and the white socks. Allow the paint to dry.

3. Meanwhile, start on the puppy's ears. Begin by turning the turtleneck shirt inside out.

4. Cut away the lower section of the body of the shirt with the fabric shears, starting from about 1/2 inch beneath the armholes; cut in a slight arc across the front if you can, so that the fabric remaining below the arms is rounded.

5. Hem the bottom of the shirt closed with your needle and thread, with your hem about 1/4 inch from the fabric's edge, maintaining that slight arc in the fabric's shape.

6. Turn the turtleneck right-side out again (a little bit of a challenge now that the body is sewn closed) and try it on your baby's head, using the top opening of the turtleneck as a hat's opening. The slight arc in the fabric that you've left should fit over the head; the sleeves of the shirt will be the puppy's floppy ears.

7. Decide how long you want the ears to hang down. Lightly mark the sleeves with a pen.

8. Remove the turtleneck shirt from your baby's head and cut the sleeves to the desired length, angling the ears slightly like a dalmatian's.

9. Turn the turtleneck shirt inside out again and hem the sleeves closed, about 1/4 inch from the end of the fabric.

10. Turn the turtleneck shirt right-side out one final time and paint on black dots with your fabric paint. Allow the paint to dry.

11. Assemble the dotted pieces: body, warm feet and ears. Trick or treat!

Tips & Warnings

• Create a tail, if you want one, from a piece of white jersey 1 foot long and 3 inches wide. Hem the long sides together to create a tube (with the outside fabric in) and then hem closed one of the ends of the tube. Pull the tail right-side out and paint on dots; allow them to dry. Safety-pin or stitch the open end of the tail onto the body of the costume.