Turtle Costume DIY – Barely Any Sewing

Last year when my son told me he wanted to be a Sea Turtle for Halloween, my first thought was, “I can’t make that!” We looked online and at stores for other ideas but he didn’t see anything else he liked. Since I was able to pull off a Jake and the Never Land Pirates costume the year before (see this post to see how I did it), I decided I had to try and see what I could come up with. This costume really could work for any type of turtle by changing up the hat.

I could not find any examples online that did not require a lot of sewing (I haven’t sewn in years!), or were for a boy his age. I did see an adorable costume for a baby with an army helmet on his back which gave me an idea. I went to Target and found a round pillow and similarly sized round place mat and had the beginnings of a Sea Turtle. The end result was a very happy, appreciative kid who wore his costume all day at school and would not even take off the shell to sit.

Here is the costume and step by step instructions below to create your own Sea Turtle:

To make this costume you will need the following materials:

FABRIC:

• 1 1/2 Yards Dark Brown Felt*
• 1/10 Yard Cream Color or White Felt
• 1/2 Yard Light Green Felt
• 1 1/2 Yard Belt Strap
• Brown Felt – I had it but you just need a little for the eyes and spots.

*The felt can be any colors that you choose, especially for the design on the shell.

OTHER MATERIALS:

• Round place mat
• Green Long-Sleeved T-Shirt
• Green Pants
• Round Pillow
• Brown Beenie

The total cost of materials for this costume was $45.00. The most expensive item was the pillow at $12.50 but you could use stuffing instead (for me it was easier to use a premade pillow), and I overbought on fabric. Sears had the pants and shirt on clearance for $5 each and TJ Maxx had the Beenie on sale for $10.00.

OUTER SHELL

Remove some stuffing from the pillow if it’s too fluffy. Put the pillow on the dark brown felt to measure two large circles. Make sure the two pieces can fit together enough to pin closed. Cut out the circles. Put the pillow between the two pieces of felt (or add stuffing instead) and pin the edges shut. I hand-stitched it closed but a sewing machine might be even faster. Trim off any excess felt.

OUTER SHELL PATTERN

Make shapes with construction paper first and cut them out. Using the construction paper shapes, place them on the felt and trace around them. I chose three different colors dark brown, white and green and moved them around until I got these two patterns:

I hot glued the felt pattern pieces shown above together before hot gluing them onto the actual shell.

INNER SHELL

Cover the place mat with two pieces of the dark brown felt and sew the edges shut. Make a pattern with paper and place it on the felt to trace it. You only need the pattern on one side because the other side will be a duplicate. Just flip it over.

FINAL STEPS

Attach the outer shell to the inner shell with children’s belt material or some other strong material. I found mine at Hobby Lobby. Sew the straps one on each shoulder and one on each side to keep the shell in place. They slip into it like a shirt. I added the eyes and some spots with hot glue to make the hat. That hat was my favorite part of the costume–it just cracked me up to see him wear it with the big eyes. The pants had a stripe down the side so I turned them inside out and added some spots around the bottom to tie the whole thing together. All in all he was one happy Sea Turtle and I am sure that if I can do this with some hand stitching and hot glue, then other more talented readers out there can top this and make it even cuter. I would love to see pictures if you do.