Monarch Butterfly Halloween Costume

I wish I knew that I would be a blogger when I made these butterfly wings for J two years ago - I would have taken pictures through the process! Still they were fairly easy to make and can be accomplished by anyone with minimal sewing skills (like mine). Here’s how I did it!

1. I took one of the many pair of fairy wings we had lying around the house and made a rough sketch of the outline on a piece of news sheet, adding about 2-3 inches all around. This pattern was then used to make two pairs of wings from black microfiber fabric.

2. Next, J and I looked on the web to print out pictures of butterfly wings to use as a visual as we made cut outs for the wings. Again we made a pattern out of newsprint and then cut 4 identical shapes out of orange, yellow and white felt. These were pinned to the wings such that one wing was the mirror image of the other. I used a zig-zag stitch to attach them to the microfiber. Now I have to be honest - these were not the neatest appliques. But you know what, it doesn’t matter! It looked great anyway and no one was looking that closely as J floated from house to house.

3. Right sides of the wings were pinned together and the two pieces were stitched around the perimeter leaving a generous opening in the middle. Using the opening, I inserted two unfolded wire hangers, bent into a #3 shape, to each side to give the wings some sturdiness. I also included a piece of cardboard across the middle, to prevent sagging. Then each side of the wings were filled with polyfill to plump them up, and the opening was stitched closed.

4. Last, two elastic arm-bands were hand-stitched on and the wings were finished

We paired the wings with a black turtleneck and black leggings. The antennae were made from one of J’s headbands and some pipe cleaners. Viola! My butterfly! Doesn’t she look cute??? By the way, the cookie she’s holding are Martha’s famous dead finger sugar cookies. They were quite the hit with the class and very fun to make!