If your little one loves butterflies then they’ll love to wear this adorable DIY butterfly costume, it looks just like a beautiful butterfly garden!
Friends, it’s October 9th and I have one Halloween costume finished. What is wrong with me? I feel so on top of it!
(Ok, that’s a lie, no one else has a costume or any Halloween plans, I’m not really THAT on top of it…)
The truth is, Baby V knew exactly what she wanted to be, I had a clear vision and most importantly, this was a super easy costume to make. And I’m SO happy with how it turned out.
In previous years, Baby V has been a flower, a candy corn, and a rainbow. This year, she said repeatedly that she wants to be a butterfly. For a half second I was bummed because there are 9 million butterfly costumes out there. But then I had an idea to make my DIY butterfly costume look like a beautiful butterfly garden.
The green tulle skirt and leggings are the grass in the garden and pretty purple butterflies (her choice of color) are flittering all over the grass and up through the blue sky t-shirt.
Honestly, there should be more t-shirts with white fluffy clouds and happy yellow suns. Someone should hire me to design children’s clothing, wouldn’t that be fun?!
Anyway, I thought and researched a lot of different ways to do the butterflies on this cute toddler butterfly costume. I looked at iron-on patches, I thought of making my own out of fabric or cardboard, I even looked at little butterflies made of wire and netting with gems on them.
But in the end I chose these plastic butterflies and they totally are what make this costume amazing. They’re photorealistic, 3D and super pretty. And they were CHEAP, easy to attach, and they’re strong enough to stand up to a day of preschool and trick-or-treating. Total win.
(If you’re wondering, these butterflies are made of thin plastic, it reminds of the plastic you use for shrinky dinks. It’s shiny on one side and matte on the other. The plastic is very sturdy (it will not rip) but you can fold it and you can easily cut it with scissors or poke a hole through it with a needle. These butterflies come with foam stickers to mount them on a wall or paper but I just set those aside for some other project.)
Add the background clothing and this cute little DIY Halloween costume for kids was super easy to put together. Here’s how I did it…
DIY Butterfly Costume Supply List
Green tutu (this one fit my 4 year old even though it says 6-24 months, it’s very stretchy)
Green leggings, tights or pants
Light blue long sleeved t-shirt
Fabric paint in white and yellow
Aluminum foil (you can also use wax paper, parchment paper or cardboard)
DIY Butterfly Costume Instructions
- Start by drawing fluffy white clouds and a yellow sun on your light blue long sleeved t-shirt with the water soluble fabric pen. Don’t forget to decorate the back and sleeves of the shirt too!
- Line the inside of the t-shirt with aluminum foil or wax paper or cardboard, to keep the paint from bleeding through.
- Fold foil to fit in the arms and line them too.
- Fill in the clouds and sun with fabric paint. Allow to dry and set according to paint directions. When the paint is dry, use a damp cloth to remove any visible fabric pen markings.
- Open your butterfly package and fold each wing up slightly on the side of the body to make them 3D as shown.
- Then using a regular sewing needle, poke 4 holes along the body.
- Sew the butterflies to the tutu (just through the top layer o tulle) and t-shirt using those 4 holes like button holes. Make sure the butterflies are attached securely!
- If you are using a blank hair clip you can glue a butterfly right to it. If you are using a clip already covered in ribbon or a bow, poke 4 holes at the top and bottom of a butterfly bottom and sew the butterfly to the ribbon securely as shown.
And that’s it! Dress your little social butterfly in the t-shirt, green leggings and the tutu and they’re all set to trick-or-treat!
DIY Butterfly Costume
Make your own adorable DIY Butterfly costume for your little one this Halloween!
Materials
Instructions
- Start by drawing fluffy white clouds and a yellow sun on your light blue long sleeved t-shirt with the water soluble fabric pen. Don't forget to decorate the back and sleeves of the shirt too!
- Line the inside of the t-shirt with aluminum foil or wax paper or cardboard, to keep the paint from bleeding through.
- Fold foil to fit in the arms and line them too.
- Fill in the clouds and sun with fabric paint. Allow to dry and set according to paint directions. When the paint is dry, use a damp cloth to remove any visible fabric pen markings.
- Open your butterfly package and fold each wing up slightly on the side of the body to make them 3D as shown.
- Then using a regular sewing needle, poke 4 holes along the body.
- Sew the butterflies to the tutu (just through the top layer of tulle) and t-shirt using those 4 holes like button holes. Make sure the butterflies are attached securely!
- If you are using a blank hair clip you can glue a butterfly right to it. If you are using a clip already covered in ribbon or a bow, poke 4 holes at the top and bottom of a butterfly bottom and sew the butterfly to the ribbon securely as shown.
Notes
Tips and tricks for making a DIY butterfly costume:
- It may take 2 coats of fabric paint to cover the blue color of the shirt, make sure you have enough time to allow that.
- These butterflies range in size from about 3 inches across to a few that are 6 inches across. I put the larger ones on the skirt and the smaller ones on the shirt.
- Make sure you place the butterflies in places on the costume where they won't bother your child. For example, don't sew one right under their chin or where it will catch on their hair.
- Sewing the butterflies on takes a little while but it's not terrible. I completed the hand sewing part of this project in about 45 minutes.
- If the weather is cool where you live, size up in the t-shirt so your child can wear something underneath!
- If you have to travel on Halloween, don't put the costume on until you get there otherwise the butterflies will get crushed in your carseat.
Recommended Products
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.
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Butterfly Wall Decals, 24 Pcs 3D Butterfly Removable Mural Stickers Wall Stickers Decal Wall Decor for Home and Room Decoration (Purple)
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Tulip 20406 Soft Fabric Paint 4oz Matte Sunshine Yellow
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Tulip 20403 Soft Fabric Paint 4oz Matte Glacier White
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Chenkou Craft Assorted 40pcs Prong Hair Clips Hair Pin Covered Grosgrain Ribbon DIY Hair Jewelry Craft 32mm (32x6 mm)
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ARTIKA Sewing KIT, Over 130 DIY Premium Sewing Supplies, Mini Sewing kit, 38 Spools of Thread - 20 Most Useful Colors & 18 Multi Colors, Extra 40 Quality Sewing pins, Travel, Kids, Beginners
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LEONIS 5 Water Erasable Marking Pens Blue [ 78008 ]
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BOSOBO Paint Brushes Set, 2 Pack 20 Pcs Round Pointed Tip Paintbrushes Nylon Hair Artist Acrylic Paint Brushes for Acrylic Oil Watercolor, Face Nail Art, Miniature Detailing & Rock Painting, Blue
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Kavio! Toddlers Crew Neck Long Sleeve in BLUE
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CAOMP Girls'%100 Organic Cotton Leggings for School or Play in GREEN
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Dancina Tutu for Baby Girls Newborn Toddlers Cake Smash Birthday Ages 0-24 mo in GREEN
If you liked this, you may also like some of my other posts…
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