How to Make a Monarch Caterpillar Costume
- 1). Have the child lie down on a large piece of butcher paper with arms extended. Draw the outline of the child's arms and body, just like the outline for a paper doll. Add one inch to the measurement around the arms and extend the torso of the outfit by about eight inches. You need to have plenty of room to stuff the back of the costume.
- 2). Cut out the paper pattern. Cut out two pieces of fabric for the front and back of the costume. Make sure the neck hole is large enough to slip over the child's head.
- 3). Cut 1-inch-thick strips of cloth as wide as the back of one of the costume pieces from yellow and white fabric. Sew the strips onto the back of the costume in the following pattern: yellow, black, yellow, white, black, yellow, black, white, black, white, yellow, black, white, black, white, yellow, white, black, white, yellow, black. This is the type of pattern that monarch caterpillars have on their backs. Sew the yellow and white strips right next to each other. Simply leave a 1- or 2-inch space between the yellow and white strips for the black stripes.
- 4). Place some loose stuffing on the wrong side of the striped costume half. Do not add any stuffing to the arms. Layer a piece of netting over the stuffing to hold it in place and sew the netting over the stuffing.
- 5). Face the right sides of the two fabric pieces together. Sew the top of the arms to the neck, the bottom of the arms and the sides of the bottom all the way to the bottom. Add a hem to the sleeves, neck and bottom of the costume if the edges are ragged.
- 6). Make three sets of arms near the middle of the costume. Stuff small black tubes with stuffing and hand sew them to the front piece of the costume.
- 7). Sew two pipe cleaners to the front of a beanie for antenna.