DIY Weeping Angel Costume For Children

 

I am back today with another t-shirt dress tutorial for you! We absolutely adore these t-shirt dresses in our house. They are soft, stretchy and easy to turn into a cosplay for any occasion. In the past, we have shared tutorials for the basic t-shirt dress, a Belle version of the t-shirt dress, a Mary Poppins version and now today this fun and easy DIY Weeping Angel costume.

 

Both my best friend Lorene and I are huge Doctor Who fans. We love heading to Comic-Con to see our favorite actors from the show and when we both had a baby around the same time, we knew that it was the perfect opportunity for a little baby cosplay! She created a Tardis dress for her little girl and I created this Weeping Angel costume for my daughter, mostly so we could take pictures of them together and say “The Angels have the phone box.”

This t-shirt dress was actually my first one of these and I was really nervous. Sewing has never been my strongest skill and told Lorene she was going to have to hold my hand through the whole process. I was absolutely shocked by how easy it was and have made many since. The best part of these dresses (and this cosplay) is that it is inexpensive, quick and easy to make, as well as being stretchy and comfortable.

So, on to the dress. Lorene and I made the Mary Poppins version during a live show over on Facebook, so if you want to follow along “real-time” you can watch that video here.

How to Make a Weeping Angel costume from a T-Shirt

Materials:

• one grey adult t-shirt (see the post here for information about deciding which size to use for your daughter)
• 3/8 inch elastic — 4+ yards depending on the size of the dress
• one fat quarter or 1/4 yard grey cotton fabric, prewashed
• fabric marking pen
• sewing machine with grey thread

This Weeping Angel costume starts out just like the girl’s t-shirt dress tutorial here. Trim the top of the shirt and create the neck casing, but don’t add the elastic to the neck yet.

The main thing that makes this dress different from a basic t-shirt dress is using a contrast waistband instead of a shirred one like in the basic t-shirt dress tutorial. To create the waistband, you’ll be creating a loop of doubled-up fabric to overlay the waistband, and then the elastic will be inserted between the tshirt and the waistband.

If you have fabric yardage, cut one long strip that is about 6 inches wide and double the width of the t-shirt, when measuring from side to side just below the sleeves, plus an inch (or more) for turning/seams.

If you are using a fat quarter like we did, the width of the fat quarter is about the same width as the shirt, so we cut two pieces 6 inches wide, and then sewed together one short edge (right sides together) to form one long piece of fabric, 6 inches wide and approximately double the width of the t-shirt so it will wrap all the way around.

For the exact sewing of the waistband, I’m going to direct you to the Mary Poppins Dress Tutorial. Lorene did a beautiful write up with step by step pictures and I don’t think I can say it any better. Head here for that tutorial and then come back here for information on how to make the hat and the wings!

After you have sewn the waistband, threaded the elastic through the channels and closed up the waistband, you are ready to finish the rest of the dress. Finish up the dress by adding the neck elastic and shirring the sleeves like in the original tutorial.

 

DIY Weeping Angel Wings

You will need;

• fairy wings
• Stone Spray Paint

Find a nice deep grey Stone Spray Paint. This paint has little flecks in it that make the finished product look more stone than a flat grey would. Lay your wings out and spray them really well on one side. Allow them to dry completely and then add a second coat. Allow them to dry again and then flip them over to the other side and repeat! With all of the stone spray paint on them, they hold up really, really well!

 

Weeping Angel Hat

I made a hat because my little baby was almost completely bald but if you are making this costume for an older child with long hair, sweep the hair into a bun and use grey hairspray to paint it grey and then you can completely skip this step!

• You will need:
  Grey Yarn
• A hat loom (like this one)
• a sock

Use your loom to knit a hat that fits your child’s head. Cut off the top straight part of a sock and roll it down until it looks like a little donut. Take the same yarn you used to make the hat and wrap it around the donut (going through the center), over and over until the sock is completely covered. Sew the donut to the hat for the full bun look.

Dress your child in grey pants, throw the dress over top, add wings and the hat and you have the cutest and scariest weeping angel around!

 

Which Doctor Who Character would you dress up like?