Where the Wild Things Are: Max's Wolf Suit

Estimated time to complete: 12 hours

Skill level: Intermediate

There are many things to love about Halloween - an aura of spookiness, warm apple cider as the air turns crisp (or, in Minnesota, often just downright cold), candy - but one of my favorite things is seeing creative costumes for both adults and kids. I've enjoyed creating low-key costumes for myself in the past, but they didn't involve much more than putting things I already had together in a creative way, and occasionally adding a wig or other props. As my son's second Halloween approaches, I wanted to fully commit to making him a costume from scratch. I was inspired by one of his current favorite books, Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, to make him a recreation of Max's wolf suit.

Before diving into this project, you'll want to take measurements for the costume-wearer to ensure you have the correct amount of material. The pattern I used comes in a range of sizes from newborn-4T. I used the 2T measurements, and the amount of fabric listed in the supplies corresponds with that. There are plenty of fun ways to customize this costume, like changing up the type of fabric, making your own shape for the tail, or adding more accessories. A brief video overview of this project can be found by clicking here.

Materials:

• Zipster Romper pattern from Peek-a-Book patterns
• Minky white fabric (1.5 yards)
• Faux fur (1 yard)
• Gold vinyl fabric (1/4 yard)
• Faux fur trim (2/3 yard)
• 14 inch zipper
• Pins
• Lightweight, pliable cardboard (I used a cereal box)
• Tacky glue
• Hot glue sticks
• Gold acrylic paint
• White thread
• Poly-fil stuffing
• Paper
• Tape (optional)

Tools:

• Sewing machine
• Hot glue gun
• Pencil
• Measuring tape
• Fabric scissors
• Non-fabric scissors
• Sponge brush
• Safety pins
• Bench scraper (optional)

I sewed this suit using a modified version of the Zipster Romper pattern from Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop. The pattern, as well as the zipper packaging, will include more detailed instructions. I omitted the kangaroo pocket, chest pocket, and inseam snaps.

1. Measure your costume-wearer with measuring tape and choose pattern size.
2. Cut out the pattern pieces using your non-fabric scissors.
3. Pin the pattern pieces to your minky white fabric according to pattern instruction.
4. Cut the fabric pieces out using your fabric scissors. Keep everything laid out and as flat as possible as you go to ensure it matches the paper pattern size.
5. Sew the pieces together and add the zipper using the instructions from the pattern and the zipper package. The ease of this step will depend a lot on the thickness of your fabric; a thicker fabric results in a fluffier, warmer suit. However, a thinner fabric may be easier to work with in the sewing machine.

For this step, you'll sketch your own pattern piece so you can be a bit creative in the size and shape. I wanted to make quite a long, full tail so I taped two pieces of paper together to achieve the length. I also opted to use a basic, tapered tube shape for simplicity, but you can certainly adjust this based on your personal preference and skill level.

1. Draw and cut a pattern piece in the shape of tail you'd like. You will need to only draw half the tail, as you'll cut the fabric on the fold. It may be helpful to compare the pattern piece to the completed suit so that you can visualize the size of the tail.
2. Fold the fur in half and pin the pattern piece to the fur. Line the edge of the paper piece up with the folded edge of the fur; this allows you to have a full, symmetrical tail when you unfold the fur after cutting.
3. Cut the fur along the paper outline.
4. Fold the fur with the right sides of the fabric together and stitch the long side together with a 1/4 in. seam allowance. Leave a bit of room open so that you can turn the tail right side out.
5. Turn the tail right side out (so that fur is now on the outside). Stuff full with poly-fil stuffing.
6. Sew the end of the tail shut.
7. Attach to the body of the suit using safety pins.

The crown elevates this costume from a simple wolf suit to king of all the wild things. You'll want to take a measurement of your costume-wearer's head for this step to ensure a snug fit.

1. Trace the outline of the crown onto your lightweight cardboard. You'll freehand this step based on the size you want; I made this crown for a head with 20-inch circumference, so I drew a 20 inch line along the bottom with a spike every 2.5 inches along the top. The height of the crown pictured is 4 inches.
2. Cut out your outline with your non-fabric scissors. This is a good time to test and make sure the circumference and height look right compared to your costume-wearer's head.
3. Trace the outline shape onto the back side of your gold vinyl fabric.
4. Cut out the vinyl outline with your fabric scissors.
5. Apply a thin layer of tacky glue to the cardboard with a sponge brush. If you are using a cereal box like I did, I recommend gluing the fabric to the patterned side of the box, as this will better cover up any mascots or logos.
6. Layer your fabric, shiny side up, on top of the glue and smooth out any air bubbles. If you have a bench scraper, this can be a useful tool; otherwise, your fingers should work just fine.
7. Let the glue dry. Once it's dried completely, trim up any spots that may be rough or uneven (for example, any places that didn't line up quite right and have a sliver of cardboard showing through).
8. Apply a thin layer of gold paint with your sponge brush to the back side of the crown (side not covered with fabric). This step is not absolutely necessary, but will hide the cardboard a bit when the crown is on. Additionally, you could repeat the steps above to cover both sides of the crown with vinyl fabric, but paint will save a bit of money here.
9. Allow the paint to dry.
10. Hot glue your fur trim along the bottom edge of the crown. It will dry very quickly.
11. Trim off any excess fur and make any final adjustments to ensure that everything is lined up properly and looking good.
12. Apply a thin line of hot glue to one end of the crown and connect the ends together to form a circle. You may need to reinforce this with more glue depending on the overall weight of the crown.

Congratulations! You've created a fun costume for trick-or-treating, for a party, or for making mischief of one kind and another around the house. This is a basic Max costume, but there are many additional ways to customize the look by adding ears, whiskers, buttons, or claws on the hands and feet. Let the wild rumpus start!