DIY Young Maleficent Costume, Wings, and Horns

I love Halloween because I get to let the costume designer out of the closet and run wild.  It’s great because my older daughter generally has some pretty interesting ideas for costumes.  This year, she wants to be a … (drumroll, please) … cat.  I know.  Big fat let down for me, too.  But my younger daughter is still a little too young to be choosing Halloween costumes, mostly because she doesn’t get what Halloween is, so I’m choosing.  Earlier in the year, we went to see Maleficent, and we all loved it.  The younger one kept running around, hopping on things, and shouting, “I’m Meficent!”  Now she says “Leficent.”  But that’s when I decided I would be the best mom ever and make her a young Maleficent costume.

I drafted a pattern based on one of her dresses, making the sleeves pretty wide like bells.  The skirt is just a wide tapered panel that I gathered.

The part where I innovated was on the texture for the dress.  I cut out double of everything, one set out of an old men’s shirt (preserving the hems and buttons–who wants to do the finish work when you don’t have to?), and another set cut on the bias out of a patterned brown fabric.  I sewed the doubles together with long parallel lines about an inch apart, sewed the dress together, then cut the top patterned layer of fabric in between the lines of stitching.  I cut it on the bias so I could have these raw edges without excessing fraying.  I twisted the dress tightly to wrinkle the fabric.  I love the texture this technique created.

The wing I designed to fold over and is the length of her armspan from fingertip to fingertip, attached at the back of the dress with a safety pin (elegant, I know) and with elastics at her wrists.  Make sure those elastics are pretty loose.

I lucked into a golden brown feather patterned fabric on clearance.  I recommend you do the same.  I gathered the wings where they meet between her shoulder blades just cuz.

I’m impressed with myself already, but we’re not even done.  The horns are the pièce de résistance, and also the easiest and quickest.  A headband, foil, and electrical tape are all you need.  And of course, an eager almost-three-year-old.

I formed the horns out of foil. The tricky part is making them symmetrical, and for that, I recommend cutting two pieces of foil the same size every time you add more foil, and working the horns at the same time instead of making one, then trying to copy it.

After I got the right twistiness and everything looked about right, I taped the horns to the headband, then added a little more foil around both the horns and headband to make the horns stable.

Then I spiraled up and down with the electrical tape until the horns were completely covered, and they were done!

The horns are surprisingly sturdy. I’m just worried about the headband breaking before she even gets to go trick-or-treating on Halloween because I can’t pry it off her.

My silly girl.

My sweet girl trying to lead me off into the forest.

She keeps taking the horns off then putting them on again.

She loves to flap her wings like she’s flying.