Simple Penguin Costume

This is another world book day outfit. My eldest wanted to go as the penguin out of the book “A different way home” by Emma Bacon, so I got to work putting together a simple penguin costume for her.

Time to complete: 45-60 mins
Difficulty: Intermediate
Adult Help: 🌳 Some help – Children can help choose and position the felt pieces and can sew or glue with guidance. An adult may need to help with cutting the fabric accurately and with the sewing, particularly around the hoodie and smaller beak piece.

I started with a black hooded jacket in her size. Penguins have a white belly, so I laid some white felt over the front of the hoodie, and cut out shapes to suit. It was simpler to go around the pockets in the end, rather than try to sew over them, so I split the white felt around the seam for the pocket. When I was happy with the shape, I stitched them down with a whip stitch all the way round. If you wanted to avoid sewing, you could use a bit of fabric glue, or an iron on fusible webbing if you’d prefer. You don’t need to be crafty to create a costume.

The beak is made from a triangle of orange felt. Again, I stitched it across the top, but you could go with glue or webbing again here. She wore this with black trousers and was a successful penguin for world book day.