Introduction: How to Make a Child Skunk Costume

About: I'm a former bicycle industry designer turned professional jeweler. I like working with my hands and am happiest when I'm in the shop building my creations. If you need help with your project just let me know!

My wife made this for our son last Halloween when he was just under two years old. We wanted something that would be easy to make, keep him warm and be easy for him to wear around. Our only goof up was that we made the stripe wrong- and sewed the tail on upside down! Of course I fixed that for the instructions. :)

Step 1: Materials

You'll need a black hooded sweatshirt (preferably with a zipper- makes it easier) and pants, some white fabric, some polyfill for the tail and some velcro. You'll also need some matching black fabric to make the tail.

Step 2: Make the Front and Back

Make the front of the costume by cutting out a large section of white fabric and sewing it onto the front of the sweatshirt. Only sew it on one side- the other side will be attached with velcro (sew this on where the "x" spots are) so it's easy to get to the sweatshirt zipper.

Make the back by cutting out the skunk stripe from white fabric and sewing it onto the sweatshirt, starting at the hood and finishing at the base of the back.

Step 3: Make the Tail

Make the tail by cutting out two identical pieces of black fabric. Now cut out the white stripe and sew it onto one of the pieces of black fabric. Then sew the two halves of the tail together and fill them with the polyfill stuffing and sew up the base of the tail. Sew the base of the tail onto the sweatshirt, lining up the stripes. Make sure the stripes of the tail are facing up (we actually screwed this up!) Our tail was a bit too heavy so we ended up attaching it to the back of the sweatshirt with a safety pin so it wouldn't drag on the ground.

Now draw some whiskers on your youngster and you're ready to go trick or treating!