DIY beetle costume for a boy

A beetle costume is one of the most unusual outfits for a festive event. Children show great interest in insects. They love to watch them, catch them, and sometimes even dry them, creating their own collections. You can please your baby by making him an unusual beetle costume, based on the tips and photos.

What you need to make a beetle costume

There are a great many beetles in nature, and, therefore, variations of the costume too. First you should choose a specific type of beetle and study its characteristics. You should conduct a whole study on this topic together with your child. In most cases, the following materials are used to make a suit:

1. Textile. To create a suit, you can use fabrics of different composition, preferably dense and not translucent. The main thing is to choose the right fabric color in accordance with the color of the insect. Thick satin, satin, knitwear, velor and even velvet are well suited for these purposes;
2. Finished pattern.It is easy to find on the Internet or in craft magazines. You can also make it yourself;
3. Paper, pencil, measuring tape and ruler. These materials will be needed if you need to draw a pattern yourself;
4. Colored paper and cardboard. They are used to make individual costume parts;
5. Sintepon, cotton wool, foam rubber or any other filler. It is necessary to give volume to individual parts;
6. Scraps of fabric, felt-tip pens, acrylic paints on fabric. These materials are needed to decorate the outfit;
7. Scissors, pins, threads, chalk, needles and other devices;
8. Elastic band 2 cm wide, black;
9. Tea strainers (2 pcs.), thick wire and dark mesh.

Important! The use of certain materials depends on the final choice of the type of suit and its design features.

Instructions for making a beetle costume with your own hands

A beetle costume can consist of a vest, cape or jacket with large, showy wings. You should look for matching pants or shorts in your child’s wardrobe. A festive outfit is made by following a certain sequence of actions:

• If there is no ready-made pattern, then it is easy to make it yourself. To do this, just take any child’s T-shirt and trace it on paper. You should end up with two parts. We put them on the fabric, trace them, add a couple of centimeters to process the seams and cut them out;
• Next, we connect the side sections of the vest to each other and hem the seams on the neckline, armholes and bottom of the product. Bias tape or elastic are also used as processing;
• You need to sew two elastic bands up to 3.5 cm wide onto the back. These will be kind of hooks on which the wings will be attached in the future.The resulting hole should be small so that the wings inserted there do not dangle. The wings can be attached in another way. It all depends on their design and what they will be supported on;
• Wings can be easily made from wide wire or cable. The material is twisted so that the wings have a single contour and give them the desired shape. The shape of the wings can be completely different. These can be either large rectangular wings or oval, rounded and other smaller sizes;
• We wrap the frame with pre-cut mesh tape 5 cm wide;
• We cut out wings from the mesh, slightly wider than the wing frame. Next, we stretch them onto the frame and secure them with stitches along it.

There is an easier way to make wings. To do this, just make a cape from a simple rectangle or semicircle. In the center of the product you need to make a cut for the wings and draw the desired shape directly on the fabric. The wings need to be made more dense by sewing a cardboard base to them. The edges can also be trimmed with bias tape, decorated with lace or braid. At the end of the process, you need to sew comfortable ties for the cape. They are often made from ready-made satin ribbon.

A regular classic black suit and patent leather shoes will look impressive with a cape. In this case, the cape is sewn in a contrasting bright brown or red color. A shirtfront on the chest will look beautiful. You can also make more complex costumes in the form of voluminous overalls.

One of children's favorite insects is the cockchafer. The basic process for making the suit is exactly the same as for all insects. He has an interesting headdress with unusually shaped horns. Making a mask for a boy is simple according to the following scheme:

• First we choose the fabric.It is better to take two types of material to combine them. For example, you can use black and brown felt or other fabrics;
• It is better to first draw the pattern on paper. It should be oval shaped. Holes for the eyes are cut. Horns and mustaches are cut out in separate parts;
• The pattern is applied to the fabric and the details are cut out;
• To make the horns stable, they are additionally glued with paper. Next, connect to the main mask;
• An elastic band is sewn to the mask;
• The edges of the mask can be finished with a zigzag seam;
• The mustache is made by sewing together two narrow rectangles. You can put filler in them so that they stand vertically;
• Decorative trim around the eyes is made from pieces of fabric.

What can be used as accessories and additional costume decorations

To complete the look you need to use some accessories. So, big glasses will look impressive. You can use large plastic glasses purchased at the store. They are also made from small kitchen strainers. To do this, they are bent in the shape of the letter L and connected with an elastic band in two places. The shape of the product should resemble glasses.

An equally important beetle accessory is a cap. The pattern can be taken from an already finished product, for example, from a pool cap. It is decorated with antennae and eyes. The antennae are made of wire or cable, wrapped with material. At the end of the antennae you can put a sponge for washing dishes, previously painted in the desired color. It is also very convenient to attach the mustache to a headband or bandage. The eyes are cut out of felt, and to make them voluminous, they are filled with a little filler. They can also be sewn or glued to the hat.

Reference! As a headdress, you can use a cylinder-shaped hat and attach a voluminous mustache to it.

Even if you wear a regular white shirt, black pants and vest in combination with a spectacular headdress, you will get a recognizable and stylish look. You can use a knitted cap or hood as the basis for your headdress. The main thing is to attach the antennae well. Eyes can also be made from a small ball. To do this, you need to cut it in half and cover it with white cloth. The pupils can be easily painted with acrylic paint or glued on a piece of black fabric. Glue the eyes onto the cap using instant glue. Therefore it should be unnecessary or inexpensive.

You can also make several pairs of legs. To do this, take long narrow rectangular pieces of dark-colored fabric. The three sides are ground together, and then the resulting product is stuffed with filler. A glove can be sewn to the end of the foot, also filled with material for additional volume. The paws are sewn to clothing or connected to each other with an elastic band and worn around the neck. You can make 2 pairs or more of paws.

You can make removable sleeves and knee pads. They are also made voluminous by stuffing them with cotton wool or foam rubber. In this way, you can achieve greater believability of the image. Classic boots, patent leather or patent leather, are suitable for footwear.

You can make a beetle costume very quickly within a few hours with your own hands. You should first prepare the necessary materials, think through the nuances and read the advice of experienced craftsmen. We hope that this article will be useful, will help you make an interesting outfit and arrange a real holiday for your child.