Cant believe it’s almost Halloween! This year sure has gone past super fast. I’ve got the feeling that only yesterday we were swimming in the sea in the summer sun but now it’s all about pumpkins, kitted jumpers and blankets on the sofa.

Have you got your costumes ready yet? Are you going scary or cute for your little ones? I am definitely in the cute camp as I love kids dressed as animals. As my daughter Kiki is only little, she’s 21 months, I wanted an outfit that was easy to put on. I also wanted one that was easy to make so I came up with this no sew bird outfit! It used up lots of my fabric scraps which is even better :)

The cape took around an hour to make, perfect for a last minute outfit. Have a look at the video to see how I made the cape and mask. In the video you will also find out why I had to enlist my dog Kermit to model for me….

Kiki the (grumpy) little bird is soooo cute! Love the little cape on her! Yeah she definitely wasn’t in the mood to model for me, the few pictures I got off her definitely evolved her watching episodes of Sarah&Duck and Bing on the laptop next to me :)

Luckily Kermit the Dog is always up for a photoshoot and a dress up and he didn’t mind being transformed into Kermit the bird.

To make the cape you need:

fabric, one big piece and lots of different scraps of several colours and patterns
iron on hemming tape
tape measure
scissors
2 x 10cm pieces of elastic
iron

- Measure the ‘span width’ of your child (or you!) so from wrist to wrist over the neck, for Kiki this was 82 m

-Cut your piece of fabric to the width you just measured and have the length be so it just hits the lower back, for a small child around 40 cm. My piece is 82x40 cm. Fold the fabric double and cut a nice arch from the fold to the top so you end up with a semi circle. Also cut a little arch at the fold of around 8 cm, so the cape lays nicely on the neck

-With your iron on hemming tape ham the cape

-From your fabric cut 3 cm wide strips. Cut these strip into pieces of 8 cm long and cut these pieces into feather shapes, you do this by cutting a curve in on of the ends

-With all your features cut attach them to your cape with the hemming tape. You glue them to the non printed side of your fabric so the printed side becomes the ‘lining’ of your cape. Start at the bottom tip and work your way up layer by layer

For the mask you will need:

thick felt
fabric
glue gun
2x 30 cm ribbon
scissors
pencil

-Draw the shape of your mask on to the felt, my mask is 15 cm wide, and cut out.

-Cut a triangle for the beak of 8 cm wide and 6 cm long. Cover in yellow fabric (or use yellow felt) and glue to the back of the mask with your glue gun.

-Use up left over fabric feathers from the cape or cut new ones and glue them in place with the glue gun

-Tie the ribbon to the side of the mask and keep in place with a little bit of glue from your glue gun at the back of the mask

The hair clips are made by glueing a few left over feathers to two hair clips.

The dark blue fabric I used is an old one from Ikea, don’t know if they still sell it, left over after making cushions for a bench. All the other fabrics I found in my fabric stash, nice sturdy cottons, perfect for fabric feathers.

I used lots of different colours but I can see this cape work in just a single colour too, wouldn’t mind trying it out in a beige linen for a very tonal look. Your little one might like a lot of sparkle in which case go for a super shiny fabric. I would stay clear of stretchy fabrics as then the feathers will curl up on the sides.