Easy-to-Sew Jungle Costumes
Though not an official term in ecology, the word "jungle" is used to describe tropical forest thick with plant as well as animal life. Closely associated with the Amazon and Africa, jungles provide a host of inspirations for costumes. Sewing a jungle costume does not have to be difficult if you have a repertoire of basic sewing skills.
-
Golden Poison Dart Frog
-
Make a total body outline several inches away from your body on a large piece of packing paper, minus the hands, feet and head. Cut out this paper outline and use it to trace two outlines on a large piece of yellow cloth. Cut out the two cloth outlines and insert a neck zipper into one of them. Sew the two cloth cutouts together, inside out, along the edges but do not sew the neck, wrists and ankle openings. Hem the neck, ankle and wrist openings. Make gloves with more yellow cloth using the method employed to make the suit. To complete the costume, make a papier mache frog mask, painting the eyes black and the rest of the face yellow.
Gorilla Costume
-
Draw an outline of your legs from your ankles to your waist on a large piece of paper, making sure to draw the outline several inches away from yourself. Add 2 3/4 inches to the height of the waist. On another large piece of paper draw an outline of your torso from your neck to a few inches below where you stopped for the outline of the pants, again making sure to draw the outline several inches away from your body. Cut out the pants outline and the shirt outline and make two outlines of each on the backside of black furry cloth. Cut out the cloth outlines. Then set one pants outline on top of the other so that the fur sides are facing each other, sew them together and hem them. Do the same with the shirt outlines, and flip the resulting shirt right-side out. Measure your waist, and subtract 1 inch from the measurement. Use this measurement to cut a length of 1-inch wide elastic. Pin the elastic around the pants waist 1 1/4 inches down from the top and sew the ends of the elastic together. Fold the cloth down over the elastic and sew the cloth's edge. Finally, create a papier mache gorilla mask and paint it.
-
Leopard Costume
-
Draw and cut out a full body outline without a head and feet. Use the paper cutout to trace two outlines on a large piece of leopard print cloth. Cut the two cloth outlines out, set them together so the print sides are facing each other, sew them together and flip them right-side out. Hem the neck and ankles. Cut a 2-foot piece of leopard print cloth that is 2 inches wide. Fold the cloth in half lengthwise so that the print is on the inside, and sew the long sides together. Sew closed one of the short sides of the cloth. Flip the resulting cloth tube right-side out. Slide a wire down the cloth tube that is approximately 12 inches shorter than the cloth tube. Stuff cotton batting down the cloth tube with a wooden dowel until there is 1-inch of space left under the opening. Sew the cloth tube to the lower back of the body suit. Curl the tail.
Blue Morpho Butterfly Costume
-
Draw a full body outline on a large piece of packing paper, stopping at the head, elbows and ankles. Cut the outline out and pin it to a large piece of black cloth. Cut the cloth along the paper's outline, then make a second cloth cutout with the paper and insert a neck zipper into it. Sew the two cloth cutouts together and hem the neck, elbows and ankles. Flip the resulting suit right side out. Draw two connected butterfly wings on a large piece of cardboard. Paint the back of the wings blue and the front of the wings brown. Poke a pair of vertical holes on the base of each wing, then loop a length of black cloth through each pair of holes and tie the ends to make straps.
-
References
Resources
- Photo Credit Photos.com/Photos.com/Getty Images
