DIY Owl Costume

Learn how to make a DIY owl costume with a cape covered in feathers and a simple hat. This DIY costume works great for kids and adults.

My daughter threw around a bunch of costume ideas this year, and she finally settled on Hedwig or a white owl costume. She had no preferences so I got to be as creative as I wanted. That is always my favorite way to make a costume because I don’t have to live up to someone’s imagination.

I decided to use a cape as the costume base, and then I added a bunch of real feather trim to make the cape look like wings. My kids can wear their costumes to school, but they can’t wear masks so instead I made a cute owl face hat. This works great for cold Halloween nights!

What color can my owl costume be?

I created a white owl costume because my daughter wanted to be Hedwig, but this costume idea will work in any color and for any bird. You can be a black owl or a brown owl, but you can also be a black crow, a pink flamingo, or a rainbow parrot.

Is it hard to sew the feather trim?

The feather trim was not as hard to sew as I thought it was going to be. The feathers are attached to a ribbon at the top and I just sewed through the ribbon. The ribbon did have glue in it to keep the feathers in place and it gunked up my pins and my sewing machine needle. I had to keep cleaning it off throughout the process.

What sizes does the cloak pattern come in?

The cloak pattern comes in four child sizes 3/4, 5/6, 7/8, and 9/10. It’s very versatile and could work for lots of different sizes. I even think I could wear the one I made for my daughter, if I ever decided to be an owl for Halloween.

Can I add a hood to my cape and put the owl face on the hood instead?

The cloak pattern comes with a hood piece that can be added to the cape. You could then add the owl face to the hood. You just need to find a way to add a closure to the neck to keep the cape in place.

What is a PDF sewing pattern?

A PDF pattern is a sewing pattern designed on the computer and organized so that it can be printed on several letter or A4 size pieces of paper.

I love using PDF sewing patterns because if the pattern gets ruined or if my children or I changed sizes, I can always print it again. It’ll never be destroyed since I have a digital version!

How do you use a PDF sewing pattern?

Open the PDF on a computer and click print. When printing make sure that the scaling is set to 100% or no scaling so that the pattern prints at the correct size.

Once the pattern is printed it can be taped together to get the full size. Then the pattern can be cut for each pattern piece size or individual sizes can be traced so that the pattern can be used again and again. Learn how to use PDF sewing patterns.

Do you love to sew? Try one of these sewing projects:

Supplies

Free cloak sewing pattern – get it at the end of the post behind the locked content box
2 yards of sweatshirt fleece*, polar fleece, or felt in owl color
2 yards of duck/geese feather trim* in owl color
2 yards of ostrich feather trim* in owl color
2 feather boas* in owl color
1 hat* in owl color
Black and yellow felt scraps
White faux fur scraps
1 dress* in owl color
Tights* in owl color
Shoes* in owl color
Sewing tools
Sewing machine

Cut out the cloak body pattern or cut out a full circle with a hole in the middle to go around your child’s neck.

cut out full circle from sweatshirt fleece

Cut a straight line up the center front to make the front opening.

Pin all the feather trim to the cape alternating the types of feathers. Starting from the top I did two rows of ostrich feathers, one row of duck feathers, one row of ostrich feathers, one row of duck feathers, and I sew the boas around the edge.

Sew all the feather trims in place. This is the longest part. Go slowly and don’t sew over any feathers from another row.

Finish the neckline with bias binding. Keep the ends long to use as a tie to keep the cape in place.

Cut two 4 inch pieces of bias binding. Sew the open edge closed. Sew these pieces onto the center from hem corners as hand loops to control the wings.

finish neckline with bias binding. add loops to front corners for hands.

Cut out the face details from the felt and the faux fur. I liked how the faux fur looked like feathers behind the eyes.

Cut two small circles of faux fur for the ear pompoms.

cut out face details. cut out two fur circles.

Sew the face details onto the hat with matching thread colors.

Sew a gathering stitch around the outside of the fur circles. Pull the basting thread to gather the edges and make pompoms. (Learn how to make faux fur pompoms.) Hand sew the pompoms onto the top sides of the hat.