At the time of the upcoming matinees and winter holidays, every mother or grandmother has at least once been puzzled by finding a suitable fancy dress costume for her beloved child. Of course, you can buy a ready-made option, but sometimes kids let you know about upcoming events literally on the eve of such an event, and you have to come up with something on the fly. But even if you are preparing for the holiday in advance, it will be much more pleasant to dress your child in a self-made outfit than to try on a very standard version from a store.
How to make a Cipollino costume for a child with your own hands
One of the brightest and kindest images in the fairy tales of our childhood was and remains the character of the Italian writer Gianni Rodari named Cipollino. And today he remains a favorite of children, so choosing this hero to create a festive look would be a very good idea.
The main elements of the costume are:
- shirt;
- overalls;
- a cap or mask decorated with recognizable “onion” feathers.
There can be many variations of such a costume, and it is not at all necessary to use the classic jumpsuit for this hero. It can be replaced, for example, with pants with suspenders.
From scrap materials
If you are limited in time or funds, you can use some tricks to create a full-fledged costume from scratch and decorate any children's clothing available to you with some recognizable elements.
You can use patches for shirts and pants, because we all remember the unenviable financial situation of the Cipollino family, and such an element could not be more appropriate in this costume. This means that any worn items will be suitable for your purposes.
To make the pants look like overalls, simply sew one or two strips of a material similar to the pants to them, thereby forming straps. If possible, choose brightly colored clothing.
The simplest option for Cipollino’s hat can be called making a paper cone, because in every home where there is a child, you can find colored paper, or, at worst, a white sheet and paints.
Appearance and pattern for a paper hat. To imitate onion feathers, cut out triangles with very long sides from green paper and connect the resulting elements using glue or a stapler, as shown in the example picture.
Make your own suit
If you have the time and desire to bring to life the image of everyone’s favorite hero as recognizable as possible, we suggest stocking up on the necessary materials and starting work on the next version of the costume.
You will need:
- Lining fabric in yellow and green.We can also recommend using fabric in a contrasting color (for example, brown) for trousers to make them more similar to the original.
- Thin padding polyester for making hats.
- Large trouser button.
- Elastic band in pants.
- Sewing supplies.
To sew trousers, it should be taken into account that they consist of several parts, namely: the back and front halves, a strap about 7 cm wide and leaves that should be sewn onto the area near the knee.
In order not to suffer too much with creating a pattern, take trousers that fit your child well and attach them to the fabric, thus replacing the paper part. Outline the part with chalk or a bar of soap, do not forget to add 1-1.5 cm to the seams.
Sew leaves onto the resulting parts of the pants, placing them with their sharp ends up just above the knee. Thus, after attaching them to the legs, the seam will not be noticeable, and due to the lightness of the fabric, they will still “look” down. Complete all the necessary seams, insert an elastic band into the waistband area, having previously stitched the drawstring and leaving the required hole. Next, you should tuck and hem the bottom of the pants after trying them on your baby.
Sew a strap 7 cm wide from two rectangles. Calculate the length by measuring the required distance on the child. Sew the strap to the trousers and add a button to the front as a decorative element.
You can sew a shirt for a suit by following the advice described above. or using a pattern that is not difficult to find on the Internet. Such patterns are now available to print in full size for any size of children's clothing, so you don't have to master the science of making them.
As a decoration, sew “leaves” to the elbow area and to the neckline.
If you are making a shirt without buttons in the front, make a larger neckline. To reduce it during wearing, you can sew in an elastic band, rope or sew on buttons.
Headdress - onion cap, mask
For the hat, cut out a yellow rectangular piece with a width of 50 cm and the length of the circumference of the child’s head (add 3 cm for the seam). This element should be folded in half across, and a piece of synthetic padding measuring 25 cm should be made for the length of the head circumference. The padding polyester is inserted inside the first part, stitched with a decorative seam, the rectangular element is sewn in height (25 cm) and the top is pulled together. On the top of the head we sew elements of green fabric stuffed with padding polyester.
A simpler option would be to make a paper mask. Print on cardboard (or redraw by hand) an element from the diagram. Color, cut out and attach to a rubber band or paper strip. This mask is worn on the forehead and will certainly not allow you to confuse the character.
Conclusion
As you can see, you can make a Cipollino costume with your own hands, having a wide variety of material and time resources. It can be classified as a simple costume, however, your baby will be pleased to appear in it at a matinee, because a loved one will make it with warmth and love.
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