No-sew owl costume - Anyone can make this adorable costume

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Looking for a stunning Owl costume for your child? This easy No-Sew Tutorial is perfect for anyone, even if you have zero sewing skills!

With this Tutorial, you can create a beautiful Owl costume that’s great for Halloween, Carnival, or any dress-up occasion throughout the year.

The best part? You can use this DIY No Sew Owl Costume Tutorial as inspiration for creating any bird costume—just switch up the colours! Although this Tutorial is made for Young children, you can just use the same process to make Costume for Older kids or even adults. Just have to use your dress as a reference for cutting measures.

This is a 3 Piece Dress costume

A mask
A sleeveless dress for the Body
And a Fethery Wing

To make things even easier, I’ve added step-by-step instructions, a helpful video, and a Free Printable template for cutting the feathers. Let’s get started on crafting this adorable owl costume for your little one!

Before you dive in, I want to give you a heads-up: while the process is simple, it can be quite time-consuming. But trust me, with patience, anyone can do it!

Materials Needed to Make a No-Sew Owl Costume

Beige Fleece Throw Blanket (approx 130 x 170cm)
Felt Fabric in Different Shades of Brown – (We have used 5 Sheets in 4 shades of brown for cutting the feathers)

The measurement/quantity given here is suitable for 2/3 year old. If you are making this for older kids or adults, you can still follow the same method and increase the quantity of the fabric accordingly.

Whaline 18 Pcs Brown Felt Fabric Sheets 6 Colors...

Tools and Miscellaneous supplies to make a no-sew owl costume

Gorilla Mini Hot Glue Gun Kit, Dual Temp, Includes...

Sale

Pro-Master Belt Hole Puncher for Leather - Heavy...

Instructions to make a No-sew owl costume

Now that you know the owl costume consists of three pieces—a mask, a sleeveless beige dress, and feathered wings—I’ve made this tutorial easy to follow by breaking it down into three sections.

Each section includes plenty of pictures and step-by-step instructions to guide you through the process.

You will also find the video Tutorial At the end of the post along with the Template for cutting the Feathers. Let’s Start!

Part 1- Sleeveless Beige Dress (Owl body)

First, we are going to make a full-length dress with beige fleece fabric. For reference, You need your child’s Full-Length dress to mark and cut the owl dress.

Cutting the Base

Fold the fleece fabric two times( such that it has 4 layers). Then, fold the dress in half and place it over the fleece fabric.

Mark the outline of the dress with a pencil.

Now using a scissor cut the fleece fabric along the line. The front and back pieces of the dress are ready.

Preparing the Fringe

Next, we will prepare the fringes to attach to the front of the dress. This is optional but gives the dress a Textured Furry look of the Owl Body.

First, Cut 2″ wide strips of fleece fabric.

The length shall be equal to or a little more than the width of the dress.

With a scissor, fringe along one edge of the strips. Fringe approximately 1.5 inches of the strip leaving 0.5 inches uncut.

I made 25 strips for this dress. Make as much as you need.

Attaching the Fringe

Now add the fringe to the dress starting from the bottom and add layers until it is fully covered. For this, we need either a hot glue gun or fabric glue.

Apply glue along the uncut side of the strip
Glue it to the bottom-most part of the dress.
Add the next strip such that it slightly overlaps the uncut portion of the below strip.
Add layers this way till you reach the top.

Finishing

The front is ready with the fringes. Now, we will have to glue the sides of the front and back.

Apply glue along the inner edge of the back part
Now place the front part over it and press.
Hold it together for a few seconds till it dries.
Continue to glue them till the bottom end. Likewise, stick to the other side.
The owl body dress is ready. This is how the dress looks when completed.

I used hot glue to attach the pieces. But If you would like to sew them instead, you can follow the same steps and sew wherever needed.

Part 2- Owl Wings

Next, we’ll create the owl wings with an intricate feather pattern. This is the most important part of the costume, as the overall look of the dress depends on how well the wings are made.

Measuring and Cutting the Base

We’ll start by measuring and cutting the wing base. Measure the length from the child’s shoulder to their hand—let’s call this D.

Add 8 inches to this measurement, then draw a semicircle on the fleece fabric using the final length. Cut out the shape.

Refer to the image below for guidance. Lastly, cut a small opening in the centre for the neck.

Cutting Feathers

Now, let’s create the feathers! You can download the free feather template at the end of this post or draw your own.

Place the template on a felt sheet and cut out the feathers.

You can also trace the template with a pencil to make cutting easier. Cut enough feathers to fully cover the entire wing. Cutting the feathers is a major part of the whole process and it takes a lot of time. I am sharing a few more details of how I cut the feathers

Each feather measures 4.5 cm x 6.5 cm
I used 4 different brown shades of 1.2mm thick soft felt.
I had cut around 375 pieces
One 20 x 30cm sheet yielded 21 pieces of feathers.

In addition to the four colours, I also cut an equal number of feathers from beige fleece fabric. The wing turns very beautiful when the feathers are small and the pattern is too intricate. But you can choose as per your preference.

A bigger size feather might also look good and considerably reduce the cutting workload.

Adding Feathers

First, Mark concentric circles with a pencil on the semicircle wing base. This is for reference to glue the feathers. (In the below image the drawn line is not visible)

First, apply hot glue to the line and add a feather.
Add the feathers one by one on the line after applying glue over it.
Each Succeeding feather should slightly overlap the previous one.
Repeat the process until you complete the full line or half of it.
Repeat the process on the next concentric line.

Make sure to form a rhythm with colours. I have used 4 shades of brown in order from darkest to lightest. Keep Adding Feathers. About 40% of the work is complete in the below image.

Continue adding the feathers until the base is fully covered with feathers.

And this is how it turned out. I really loved it! What do you think?

Adding Button

To wear the wings we need to add lace or a button near the collar. I have added a big Button on one side and an elastic loop on the other side.

This is a no-sew dress but this button and elastic hoop has to be sewed. If you do not know how to sew, you can skip and use a safety pin while wearing it.

Part 3 – Making the Owl Mask

First, I roughly drew an owl mask and used it as a reference to cut the base and the tiny feathers.

The base is cut with a dark brown felt and the feathers are in different shades of brown
Make 2 holes using a punch plier(To tie the elastic band)
Add Eyelets using the eyelet plier
Glue the tiny feathers one by one over the mask base.
Finally, Tie the elastic band. The mask is also done.

Tadaaa…And finally, here is the owl costume!

It is actually time-consuming DIY. Yet I would say it is so simple and you will love making this for your child.

That’s my kid flaunting her wings during the carnival when she was 2 years old. She was enjoying and running everywhere, flapping her wings. Everyone’s eyes were on this little owl, and I was really happy that i made it myself!

A year later, we used it again, and it fitted very well. Undoubtedly, Felt is very durable, and all you need is an iron before wearing it every time.

Felt and hot glue are great combinations to make costumes like these.

Surely, any bird costume can be made with the same method. Macaw, flamingo, Swan, and Pigeon would also be great choices. Just change the colour of the fabric.