Make: Nutty Squirrel Costume

I am sitting here typing with scorched knuckles from the glue gun. I rue the day I didn't take more home ec classes as a kid! I would have never attempted this had it not been for Designing Mom Betsy and her retrospective gallery of brilliant costumes for her son. Or Shinmin's amazing octopus creation and those very words that I could not shake, "I can't deny Mila her first Halloween." While it's not the "nuttiest" squirrel costume on the block, I hope that one day my boy will look back and appreciate his mom's efforts...scorched knuckles and all!

Warning: I kind of found my way through this project so I don't have any templates. As you can see above, the vest needs to be finished in a major way and I plan to go back and seam the edges with the green polka dot fabric.
For materials, you'll need:
-felt pieces
-fur pelt fabric
-old sweater
-glue gun
-batting/stuffing
-thread and needle
-velcro


To make the hat: It was too late to order the cute "June Bride" Etsy hat I wanted. So I took one of my hubby's old, moth-eaten sweaters and cut off the middle section of the sleeve. I sewed it into a beanie hat and rolled the edges.

With the extra felt I had, I rolled it into a twig and glued some leaves onto the branches. For ears I used the same felt.

The squirrel tail was made of this fun fur that I found at the fabric shop. I've seen this used quite often for stuffed toy animals and thought it'd be perfect for the baby. I cut out a triangular/wedge shape and used the glue gun to seam the edges. After stuffing it with batting, I rolled the tail into a "question" mark shape and sewed it into place. I attached it with velcro strips that adhere to his fur pelt vest.


Every nutty squirrel's gotta have his own accessories right? I made a "twig bottle cozy" out of the remaining cuff of the old sweater and the felt scraps.

I tried my hand at some acorns. I failed miserably ...just take a look at the green one that resembles more of a mushroom or moldy jalepeno! I plan to have a go at it again and create smaller ones like the yellow topped version.

And there you go. My little nutty squirrel is all set for his first Halloween. We have a Halloween staff meeting at the studio today so if you're on Polk Street be sure to stop by and crash it!

Happy Friday and Happy Halloween everyone!