Homemade Tuxedo Sam Penguin Costume
Family Nov 01, 2010
Although I like to pretend that I’m artsy, I’m far from being a Martha-Stewart-mom. So when Ellis mentioned that she wanted to be a penguin for Halloween, I thought, “yay! Not a princess!” And this year I had plenty of time to plan. It was September and I could order a penguin costume and have it shipped in time to Hawaii without any trouble. However, finding a penguin costume that didn’t look cheesy or freakish became a problem.
Well, I did have time. How hard would it be? After a quick Google search, I found this kid that looks happy to be a penguin, and this kid who doesn’t look as comfortable but the costume looks well thought out. I used my superhero skill of distilling information down to two or three bullet points and decided that yes, I can make a homemade penguin costume. I will need a hoodie jacket and baseball cap. And yes, it will look good.
Ok. I admit that I was trying to psyche myself up, Stuart Smalley style, but I was committed to it. This year, I had no excuse not to give Ellis the costume she wanted for Halloween. (I admit, last year was kinda a bomb.)
Now that Halloween is over, I think my homemade costume didn’t turn out too bad. Ellis liked the costume and it was different from anyone else’s. So for all of you out there looking to do a Tuxedo Sam Penguin costume, here’s the breakdown:
Supplies:
- Yellow or orange adult baseball cap. We were lucky and daddy has one.
- Light blue / teal adult hoodie. Ours was a Women’s Large and bought at Old Navy. Timing was just right as the jackets and winter clothing are being stocked in store. The jacket fits me, so there’s no going to waste (although, teal really isn’t my color).
- Baby sailor hat. We lucked out on this one and Ellis just happened to have one from when she was 1. You can do a quick search for “baby sailor hat” and find one. Remember, it needs to be small to look accurate.
- White t-shirt.
- White long pants or leggings.
- Orange shoes and slippers. Old Navy was definitely our friend on this project. We got the white clothes and orange slippers there along with the jacket.
- Red, yellow/orange, dark blue, black felt. This can be bought at any craft store.
- Needle and tread.
Assembly
- Sailor cap. Your cap should start out white. If your sailor cap does not have a blue stripe that goes around the lip horizontally, you can cut a 1/2 inch strip of dark blue felt and attach it with needle and thread to the cap. With all the items that I attached with felt, I did not sew the whole thing. I just attached the items with 3 or 4 stitches in 2 or 3 areas. Also cut the “snake’s tongue” flag for the back of the cap. I attached that with needle and thread too.
- Eyes. Cut out the eyes from the black felt. The size and positioning is VERY important. It’s amazing how such small details make the difference between “oh cute! Tuxedo Sam!” and “oohhh… what are you?”. Eyes should be about 1 1/2 inches tall and 1 inch wide. Position the eyes about 1 inch in from the edge of the baseball cap. Yes, the eyes will look spread apart. No, it won’t look weird. Yes, this is what Tuxedo Sam looks like. Go take a look at Tuxedo Sam.
- Bow. Use red felt to make the bow. Make it big. I attached the bow to the white shirt by sewing it.
- Attach cap to hoodie. Have your little one try on the costume, then you can see where to attach the sailor hat to the hoodie. Most likely, it will be more forward than you originally thought. I used safety pins to attach the hat to the hoodie.
That was fun. Another whole year until the next Halloween? I can’t wait. =)