Baby Piglet Costume

The other day, I got a comment on my old Halloween 2012 recap asking if I had any instructions on how to make a Piglet costume like the one Emma wore that year as a 3-month-old. And although I did take some photos back then with the intention of posting a how-to…I never actually wrote it.

So, better late than never right??

I’m not going to write an in-depth tutorial, but if you ever do want to make a little baby costume like this, here’s a basic outline of what you need to do. Please keep in mind that this was some fairly quick-and-dirty sewing — since I knew it would only be worn once, I didn’t worry about making things perfect.

(And to give credit where it’s due, my idea for this costume came from here.)

The amount of fabric you need will depend on how big your kid is, obviously. Emma was 3 months old so I think I needed ~1/2 yard of dark pink knit and ~1/4 yard of light pink knit (and there was a bunch left over). You’ll also need 2 pairs of light pink baby tights, a small piece of velcro (or a couple snaps), a black marker and some thin wire (like a couple pipe cleaners).

I used one of Emma’s onesies as a guide for the bodysuit and cut two pieces on the fold — a front and a back. Note that they have slightly different shapes — the front has a lower neckline, and the back has a longer tail to cover some baby booty.

I sewed crappy but functional hems along the bottom, neck, and arm holes, then put the two halves right sides together and sewed a seam up each side and across each shoulder. I used a black marker (and a ruler) to draw thin horizontal lines around the entire bodysuit, about 2 inches apart. I used a Sharpie fabric marker, but I think a regular Sharpie would work fine too.

I thought about sewing snaps on the bottom as the onesie closure, but then decided velcro would be quicker. It was, but the velcro is actually the only thing I didn’t like, because it was too visible and it didn’t stay closed very well. If I had a do-over, I’d use snaps.

For the hat, I used one of Emma’s baby hats as a guide to get the size right and cut two identical pieces from the light pink knit. I eyeballed the size and shape of the ears, sewed around the long sides, and turned them inside out. Inside each ear I used thin wire around the edges, and a piece of heavy interfacing to give them some definition instead of just flopping over. (That helped, but to be honest they were still pretty floppy.)

The first hat photo shows how the ears and two hat pieces need to be arranged to make everything work out — you sew around the edge then just turn right side out.

Put one pair of tights on your baby’s legs and use the other pair for the arms (you will have to cut them to make it work). Add the bodysuit and the hat and voila! You have a cute little Piglet!

(Aww. My now-2-year-old was so adorably chubby back then! Love her.)