Homemade Christmas Elf costume

How to make a Christmas Elf Costume

There are plenty of fancy dress elf costumes available to either hire or buy, but if you would rather make your own childrens elf costume, I managed to find this very easy way to make an elf costume that will also be a great way you can spend some quality time together with your children doing something creative as you make the costume together.

This elf costume is recommended for children of 4 years or older.

To make your own elf costume you will need:

• About two yards of red felt per elf costume (Fabric other than felt can be used, but it will probably require hemming.)
• A few smaller pieces of other colours of felt like green, white, yellow and black
• Non-toxic glue
• Measuring tape
• Tiny bells
• Needle and thread.

Measuring and cutting out the fabric

• Start off by folding over the felt, then ask your child to lie down on it. This fold will become the shoulders of the elf costume which is great news as you don’t have to sew them!
  
• Use a marker to mark the sides of the neck, the lower edges of the armholes and the length of the costume that you want.
  
• Cut out the costume and try it on over your child’s head.
  

The Elfs Hat

• Measure the circumference of your child’s head and mark it on the felt leaving about an inch as spare.
  
• Then Mark the desired height around 1 foot is about right, if it is too long the hat will tend to easily fall off
• Cut out the rectangle that you have just marked out
• Roll it into a cone and place it on your child’s head, it should go down over their ears, to get the right size.
  
• Keep the shape and size, but remove it from your childs head to pin it together.
  
• An extra flap of material will be left over – don’t worry about this. It won’t be seen once the hat is turned inside out.

Time for the Sewing

• Don't worry, there is not much sewing involved and so and it won’t take very long. It is probably best you do this away from your child for safety reasons.
• If you are sewing the costume by hand, use a double thread.
• Sew the sides of the tunic together leaving ample room for the arms.
• Then Turn it inside out so the seams don’t show.
• Then sew the cone hat along the line of safety pins in the hat and turn it inside out.
• Finish by sewing a little bell onto the point of the hat.

And that is the main part of the costume done, you can then encourage your child to decorate the costume by sticking the other pieces of coloured felt to the costume. If he / she is old enough they can cut out shapes.

And that is it - The Easy Peasy Homemade Elf Costume for Kids!