DIY Little Shepherd and Sheep Costumes

I thought a coordinated costume effort would be really cute for my 2 & 4yr old for Halloween this year.  Living in the midwest it also meant they had to be both warm and easy to layer more clothing under.  And, most importantly, they be comfortable/willing to wear.  My solution was a sweet Little Shepherd & Sheep costume pair.  Just look at that sheep frolic!

My mini shepherd has a long fleece robe to keep him covered, a traditional headdress and of course the necessary shepherd's crook:

My little lamb has a fuzzy soft sherpa body, cuddle ears and a sweet sounding bell collar:

This photo cracks me up because it looks like they're having a a serious conversation.  What a shepherd and sheep talk about,  I don't even know.

I used 1 1/2yds of sherpa fleece fabric for my 2T sized daughter.  I also got a 1/2yd of white fleece for the tummy and hat and 1/4yd of ribbed knit for the neckband and cuffs of the top and pants.  For the main costume I used some of my favorite patterns for toddlers, the raglan top and jogger pant from the book Kwik Sew's Sewing for Toddlers by Kerstin Martensson.

I cut an oval from the fleece to applique onto the shirt front before I assembled it, but otherwise followed the patterns exactly.  The fit is roomy enough to add clothing underneath for a chilly Halloween night.

For the hat, I used the same Turtle Dove cap pattern from the Winter 2009 issue of Ottobre Design that I used a few years back to make the head part of this DIY chicken costume.  I modified it to extend & overlap under the chin with a snap closure.

It's ideal for making hats like this that have ears since it has three main pieces so adding them is easy.

I hand drafted some ear pieces and cut a piece for each component from the sherpa and the white fleece for the outer & lining sides.  I sewed the ears together first and then basted them where I wanted them on the hat before I assembled it.

It turned out exactly as I'd pictured in my mind right off the bat, which was so nice.

I also made a little collar from a long scrap of brown fleece, with a snap closure and hand-sewed a bell on it.  My daughter finds it fascinating so she just won't leave it alone (which is why it's hard to see in most of my photos).  I feel like the bell collar was key for distinguishing this as a sheep/lamb costume since many people can do a quick glance at a fluffy costume and think it's just about any animal.  

For my little shepherd I totally winged it.  Which was somewhat miraculous because I literally threw it together from nothing 48hrs before a trunk or treat event at our church.  They were a big hit since they "teamed with the theme" of the location;)  

I started by using one of my 4yr old's fluffy sweatshirts as my base for shape & size.  I folded it in half and measured his height from shoulder to ankle to start an extended pattern that would become a robe.

I then used a yard stick to extend it out in an A shape from the underarm for the proper robe shape and then traced the sleeves and belled them out the same way.

Once I had my pieces I cut them all out from my 1/5yds of brown fleece and also made 3 inch wide neckline facing pieces by tracing the neckline of my front & back and sewed everything together.

For the headdress I look a yard of muslin found on clearance and folded it in half.  To anchor it I got some soft cotton craft cord and wrapped it around his head a few times and held it together with little clamps to remove it intact.  Then I hand sewed it in 4 spots to make it stay in place.

Placing it over the muslin gave a real shepherd look that was easy too:

And to round out the look I got this lightweight kid-sized plastic shepherd's crook off Amazon:

I'm so happy about how these turned out, especially since I barely had time to throw them together.  I do like to make the costumes, whenever I can, when my kids are little.  It makes it more memorable and I know my time for getting to pick them myself or getting them to be willing to coordinate is short so I need to use it.  My 2 yr old actually squealed with delight when she saw it and insisted on trying the hat on, so gotta make the most of this stage for Halloween costume fun!

Have a Happy Halloween!!