Minion Costume Tutorial

Halloween is near, and that means candy...I mean costumes! I've always loved trick-or-treating. My brother and I would dress up each year and set out as early as we could to maximize our loot. We knew which houses were the ones giving out the best candy...and which ones were the ones giving out toothbrushes. When we got a little older, my dad would drive us to the "rich neighborhoods" where they would hand out the really good stuff. The long walk up those winding driveways were rewarded with full-size candy bars :)

Here in Pittsburgh, it's very much a family-centered community, and that includes trick-or-treating. Our neighborhood is full of many young families, and all of them are out on Halloween having a good time. I always ask my kids what they want to be for Halloween, and for the past several years, my daughter has always gone as one of the Disney princesses. Last year, Connor chose to be a dragon (you can find the DIY here.) This year, I thought for sure he'd choose the same thing since his interests are few, so when he asked to be a Minion from the movie Despicable Me, I got really excited.

We love Despicable Me at our house. We own both movies, and they're on repeat frequently. The little Minions are just so cute and lovable! And boy do they love bananas.

The wheels in my head started turning on how to make my boy into a cute little Minion. My main goal for this costume was that I wanted it to be warm and wearable for more than just Halloween - who wants to put all that work into something that's going to be worn for one night, amiright?

Luckily, it turns out Minion costumes are really simple! All you need is some overalls, felt and a hoodie (or hoodie pattern in my case) to alter.

For Connor's Minion costume, I used the Henday Zip Up Hoodie by Gracious Threads as my base pattern, but you could easily use a hoodie you have on hand. I made my hoodie from yellow fleece I got at Jo-Ann Fabric which is super soft and warm; perfect for what are usually chilly Halloween evenings here in PA. The overalls were a clearance purchase from Target, but you could DIY them as well using Peek-a-boo Patterns' Okey Dokey Overalls or another similar pattern.

I didn't make an official step-by-step tutorial because this is such a simple project, but I'll give you a rundown of what I did: I followed the Henday Hoodie pattern as usual, but when it came to making the hood, I folded a square of felt in half and cut strips almost to the center to make hair. Then, I sandwiched the hair in between the hood pieces, and sewed the hood as usual. After the hood was attached, I layered some felt circles in gray, white and black for the eye and goggle and sewed them on. Then I sewed on two strips of black for the goggle band. I then chose to line the hood to hide all the stitching of the applique and hair, but that step is totally optional. Everything else was sewn per the pattern instructions.

And there you have it, instant Minion. Sounds a little complicated but seriously, it was so easy. I think I made the whole hoodie in under an hour and a half, if that. If you're using a RTW (ready to wear) hoodie, it's just as simple as sewing on some felt pieces as explained above.

And now I have a happy little Minion ready for trick-or-treating! Connor has already worn his new Minion jacket outside with several compliments. Wouldn't it be fun to make an evil purple Minion using the same method?? Maybe next year!

What are you sewing up for Halloween?