Tutorial: Dog Bat Costume

After the success of Whiskey's taco costume last year (tutorial here!), I had to think of something new for him this year that was both comfortable for him to wear and easy for me to make. It was those big cute ears of his that made me think of a bat. It was perfect! I made it while watching a movie, so it took me less than 2 hours to make it. Not too bad.

I decided to use black felt and a coat hanger as the main components to keep it soft and light. Thankfully, Whiskey loves wearing sweaters (he gets all jumpy and excited when I pull them out), so he's pretty content to wear this costume. I just have to keep an eye out for when he goes under chairs or he gets stuck.

Here's a quick step-by-step tutorial on how to make this yourself!

What you'll need:
- Measuring Tape
- Scissors
- Wire Cutters
- Pliers
- Sewing Machine (or needle if you're ambitious and want to do it by hand)
- Black Felt
- Coat Hanger
- Black Thread

First, I made a bat wing shape out of cardboard that was proportional to Whiskey's size. Then I cut out 4 of the wings in black felt, making two for each side.

Using my sewing machine, I stitched two of the wings together all along the top about 1/4" in from the edge, and then another stitch about 1/4" below that curved line. Then I stitched 1/4" in from the edge all along the edge of the rest of the wing, making sure to leave a space open where the wire will go in between the two upper stitches. Repeat with the other wing.

After both wings were stitched, I took scissors and cleaned up along the edges and make they all look neat and clean.

Next, I took an old coat hanger and straigthened it out using pliers. I made a curve in the middle to match the curve on the width of Whiskey's back, where the wings would go. Then I placed one of the finished felt wings down and curved one of the sides of the hanger to match the curve in the fabric. I repeated with the other side. Using wire cutters, I snipped off any excess coat hanger.

Now the wings slipped right on to the hanger, like so.

To make the belly band to go around Whiskey's back, I measured aroud his chest, adding 1 inch for overlap. Then I sewed velcro tabs on to make it easy to take it on and off.

This is how the band looks on his chest when put on. Next, I measure along the front of his chest, from the edge where the band is on one side, to where is was on the other side.

I added an inch on one side to sew it into the existing band, and then an inch on the other side for the velcro tab tucked in under the existing band. So it was the front of his chest + 2 inches.

One end of the chest strap was stitched one inch in on one side of the belly/chest band.To hide the velcro closure on the other end of the chest strap, I sewed it on the inside of the larger band. When I put it on him, I velcro the front chest trap on first, then the belly/chest band.

To add the wings, I put the sraps on him and then doubled checked where I wanted to place the wings on the band, and marked it.

I took a small piece of felt that was the length of the middle piece of curved wire and pinned it on the back of the belly band right where I wanted the wings to go. Then it was a matter of sewing four lines 1/4" apart from each other. The middle slot that I created was to hold the middle curve of the wings and the outer slots are just for support. I then trimmed any excess felt. Next, I removed one of the felt wings and then fed the wire through the middle slot. After it was secure, I added the wing back on. Then is was just a matter of quickly hand sewing a couple of stitches through the wings and band right where they meet, to make sure that they stayed on the wire.

We had a family party earlier this week, and I showed off Whiskey's costume there. It was a huge hit.

And I'm starting to think that he's liking all the attention he gets with it.

Shadow was happy to try it on too, although I think it makes her look scary rather than cute.

Especially with that crazy little ear that curves up. She's like a shark/dog/bat monster mutation...but I still love her to bits.

Are you dressing up your pets for Halloween this year?

This tutorial is linked up to: Great Halloween Link Up Party @ eighteen25