Tuesday, November 5, 2013

How to make a Captain Barnacles, Octonauts costume.

My son is obsessed with the Octonauts and so this year his costume was a no brainer. I choose to have him be Captain Barnacles because I had a good idea of how to pull it off pretty inexpensively. It also allowed me to mix in some store bought items which cut down on my sewing load.

I bought a thermal shirt from Target and he already had matching jeans from H&M. I made a belt, hat, and collar out of felt using glue to put together the pieces. I used a winter hat that fit him well to get a general shape for the "ears".  I created the "zipper" at the shirt collar with a bit more glued felt. To complete the look I painted the boots with blue fabric paint. I free handed pattern pieces so it's definitely not perfect but, it has personality.


I made my accessories out of the felt squares you can get at any craft or fabric store. I cut the pieces out and use Elmer's glue to put them together. Don't be afraid to be heavy with the glue, it dries clear and stiffens the felt.

I bought some basic boots at Target and painted them with fabric paint. Make sure you leave at least a day or two for this to dry.

The belt comes together. I doubled up the blue felt for more stability (I bought a yard of the blue felt since I need so much). I hot glued the velcro to the felt since it's much faster than tacking it and I only need it to hold up for a night.

This is before we put on his ears and hat. He loves it!

The final product is pretty darn cute. However, my son is so charming he can make anything look cute.

Trick or Treat time!

We painted our pumkin with the Octonauts symbol. Since he's to young to carve this year I went the quick route with some basic white acrylic paint and ten minutes of my time. Escher sort of helped. 

4 comments:

Amber said...

my daughter has been saying for months that she wants to be Captian Barnacles for halloween. Our church's trunk or treat asks that you not wear masks. This would be a perfect solution, plus,I think your costume is the best I've seen on the net. I had a question about the hat. You said you used a winter hat that already fit to get a good feeling for where the ears should be. Does this mean you made the hat yourself using the winter hat as a pattern, and then adding ears (somehow) and the octonaut cap? I have some sewing skills and can follow a pattern well so that would not be a problem for me. Any tips and ideas would be helpful. Thanks!

Kacee said...

Thank you Amber! Yes, I used his winter hat with the ear flaps for the pattern (make sure it doesn't have much stretch to it). I folded it in half to copy the general shape onto a piece of craft paper (this way there is only one seam down the center of the hat). Make sure to add the seam allowance where the two halves come together (you may want to do at least 1/2" so that you can make adjust if needed). Then, I cut the two pieces out of a folded piece of white fleece. Next, sew the two halves together right sides together. Then I cut slits where the "ear" should go with an xacto knife (probably about 2 1/2"). Next, I used the length of the slit to create the line for the bottom of my ear shaped paper pattern and I added a bit extra to the bottom for some wiggle room. Next I add a small amount of seam allowance to all sides of the pattern and cut out two ear shapes on folded fabric (you will have four pieces). Sew both ears right sides together put some stuffing in them from the inside pull the ears mostly through the slits and sew them in (I think I may have hand stitched them just around the edges). Finally, I cut out a piece of grey felt and glued it on with some white glue. At the end I sew on a chin strap because my child didn't want to keep it on but otherwise it's not needed. I hope this helps. Good luck! Best, Kacee

Margaret Irribarra said...

Hey! Great costume! I’m working on two captain barnacles for my 3.5yo and almost 2yo. I am trying to figure out the belt. I sewed two pieces together and then turned them right side out, but it’s making it really stiff... maybe too much. Did you just hot glue two pieces of felt together to get the stiffness?

Margaret Irribarra said...

Hey! Great costume! I’m working on two captain barnacles for my 3.5yo and almost 2yo. I am trying to figure out the belt. I sewed two pieces together and then turned them right side out, but it’s making it really stiff... maybe too much. Did you just hot glue two pieces of felt together to get the stiffness?