Halloween Dog Costume on a Budget – Black Widow

26 days till Halloween. There is still enough time to shop for your favorite dog costume. But what if you decide to make one instead? It’s definitely feasible given a little creative and patience, I don’t see why not.

This is the first series of Halloween dog costumes on a budget, and over the next three weeks I’m going to replicate some interesting costumes that I find easy enough for beginners to try their hands on.

I like to point out one obvious thing is that I’m not a fashion designer nor am I a craftsman by profession, so my steps and materials used may not seem like wise options in the eyes of the professionals. I’m just a hobby crafter. My objective here is to use recycle materials as much as possible (as in my title – on a budget). You are free to use whatever materials you deem fit. Of course, you are always welcome to share your ideas here so others will benefit.

Halloween Dog Costume – Black Widow

Materials:

• Six wire hangers
• Cardboard (semi thin) or shoebox (for small dogs)
• ½ to ¾ meter of felt
• 1 meter of ribbons
• Newspaper
• Fabric Glue
• Pliers
• Masking Tape

Preparation:

Cardboard length – Measure the length of the back torso from withers (lower end of the neck) to the rump (couple inches before the rear)

Cardboard width – Covers until the shoulders line.

Ribbons or yarn – each length of the ribbon should not be any shorter than your dog’s waistline.

Newspaper – Cut them into strips of 4 inches wide.

Methods:

1. Straighten out the wire hangers then cut them into equal length of 10 to 18 inches (depending the size of your dog).
   Cut the newspapers into strips of 4 inches wide.
2. Wet the newspapers strips then coil them around the wire hangers from end to end (leave 1½ one inch unwrap) until it’s about 1 cm diameter thick.
3. Cut six small circles of felt to be glued to the tip of the black widow legs.
4. Cut six pieces of felt of the same length of the wire hanger and add 1 cm more to the circumference of the newspaper wrapped wire hanger.
5. Glue the felt onto the six wrapped wire hanger leaving one end of 1½ inches unglued (opposite end of the tip).
6. Puncture six holes (three on each side) on the cardboard towards the upper end of the torso with an inch between them.
7. Cut the felt to the size of the cardboard with at least one inch border, then glue onto it.
8. Use a pair of scissors to make openings through the six punctured holes on the cardboard.
9. Insert the six legs through the holes leaving 1½ inches, bend and tape them to the cardboard.
10. Run the tape across the six wires a couple more times as you don’t want your dog to get hurt while wearing it.
11. Glue those six loosely felt on the felt. You may have to snip a little around the edge to make it glue nicely.
12. Fasten the four ribbons onto the underside of the cardboard (two ribbons on each side – one pair around the chest and another pair around the abdomen) with masking tape. You may choose to cut off the ribbon to desirable length after your dog had the costume on.

Special note:

• Avoid those heavy duty wire hangers as they can be quite a “burden” for small dogs.
• If it’s a male dog, do not tie the ribbon across his penis.
• Do not tie them too tied either. Make sure you’re able to run one finger around it.
• It will be best to get your dog to model every step of the way, ie. His six legs won’t be too near to his rear.