This is a cute costume idea for an infant. Not only does it work as a costume, but makes a great blanket as well.
Advertisement
Total Time: 2.5 hours
Yield: 1
Supplies:
1 old sweater ($4)
4 buttons
1/4 yd red fabric
1 pair suspenders
1 piece of white felt
thread
needle
sewing machine
Steps:
First cut off the arms along the seams and cut straight across the collar, making a straight edge.
I decided that I wanted the tail and fins to be ribbed, so I cut the bottom of the sweater in the shape of the tail. Since I wanted to keep the body as wide as possible, after cutting in for the tail I cut outward towards the edge of the sweater and kept the width of the sweater for entire shark body.
Note: I didn't use a pattern for this, but you could draw out your shark shape on butcher paper and pin it to you sweater fabric and cut out.
When I slipped this on my son, I decided I wanted my shark to be longer. To get more length I used the left over fabric from the sleeves I cut off earlier. I slit the arms up the seams. You will notice the edge where they were attached to the body is rounded, keep this edge and cut the sleeves on the other side shorter at the point where they start to taper. Attach the sleeves to the body. If your sweater was long enough to begin with, skip this step, and simply round the edge where the mouth will be.
Advertisement
I cut off the ribbed part of the arm cuff to use for the fins. I simply folded the pieces of fabric in half and rounded off one side to make a fin shape and sewed the edge.
Turn your fabric inside out. Decide where you would like your fins to be, somewhere in the middle of the shark body. Pin them in between the two sides of fabric pointing inward, making sure the fins are pointing down towards the tail. Pin the tail and up both sides of the body.
Sew all the way around leaving about an inch on each side where the mouth will be.
Cut your red fabric 2 1/2 inches in width and as long as both sides of your shark mouth, adding 2 inches extra.
Advertisement
Sew you red fabric into a tube, turn right side out, cut in half, so you can attach each piece to each side of your shark mouth separately. Pin each piece of red fabric to each side of your shark mouth, folding the sweater fabric edge under. Sew mouth to shark body.
Cut 12 triangles out of felt and pin them onto the mouth where you would like the teeth to be. Hand sew the teeth in place.
Make sure to remove all pins and cut all the thread ends off before trying your shark on your baby.
Optional: You can buy a pair of old suspenders and cut and sew them smaller to use them as a way to keep the shark on the baby when you pick him up.
This is a cute costume idea for an infant. Not only does it work as a costume, but makes a great blanket as well.
