Homemade Hoodie Unicorn Costume

It’s costume time here at Left Brain Craft Brain!  Homemade Halloween costumes have been a big part of my life since I was a little girl.  My mom was an artist and loved creating at Halloween. She made me a Raggedy Ann(e) outfit, a dinosaur tail and a regal Cleopatra costume, to name just a few. When The Babe was born, I decided to follow in her footsteps.  This year, it’s a Homemade Hoodie Unicorn Costume.  It’s perfect for a My Little Pony birthday party coming up, too :)  This post contains affiliate links.

Homemade Hoodie Unicorn Costume Left Brain Craft Brain

Homemade Hoodie Unicorn Costume Supplies

A few things to know about this kiddo costume.  It takes a bit of sewing (either by hand or on the machine), but the benefit is you have a washable costume that lives on long past Halloween.  I’m kind of over that whole disposable Halloween thing these days…  Also, I’ve made this costume for a size 6 hoodie.  Although The Babe is only three and a half, she’s crazy tall so this tutorial should fit your average six-year-old.  You can adjust accordingly to fit your needs.

Hoodie Unicorn Costume Collage Left Brain Craft Brain

You need the following:

  • White hoodie (I was lucky enough to find a hoodie complete with cutie marks like My Little Pony, but any hoodie will do, like the affiliate one in the link.)
  • White pants or white leggings{affiliate}
  • 1/4 yard anti-pill fleece in Color 1 (we chose purple) {affiliate}
  • 1/4 yard anti-pill fleecein Color 2 (we chose pink) {affiliate}
  • 1/4″ elastic (~2″ length) {affiliate}
  • 5 small elastic bands in Color 1 (we used hair bands, but Rainbow Loom bands work well too) {affiliate}
  • Thread (I used color about half way between my two fleece colors.) {affiliate}
  • Iron on Velcro or safety pins {affiliate}
  • Glue gun or fabric glue

Homemade Hoodie Unicorn Costume Supplies Left Brain Craft Brain

Make the Unicorn Mane

  1. First, wash your hoodie, pants and fabric to ensure minimal shrinkage.
  2. Fold the hood of your sweatshirt in half and use a measuring tape to measure the length from the forehead seam to the base of the neck seam.  It’s hard to measure on a curve, but don’t worry, this doesn’t have to be perfect.  This will be the length of the fleece you cut in the next step.
  3. Cut a rectangle out of both pink and purple fleece. Length is the measurement you took in the last step.  Width is 20″.  Stack the two pieces together, pink fleece on top.
  4. Pin center of the fleece rectangle down the center of the hood, from forehead seam to neck seam.  (Wow, I really need to work on my pinning skills apparently.  Look at that wrinkly job!  Yikes.)

Hoodie Unicorn Costume Steps 1 Left Brain Craft Brain

  1. Now sew along the pin line of the hood.  I used a machine here (this was my first time sewing with The Babe too!)  A zigzag stitch will add some stretch to the seam which well help the mane last longer.  You can see in the pictures below what it looks like after sewing, both on top and underneath.  You’ll quickly notice that none of my sewing is perfect.  Fleece is highly forgiving, so don’t stress if your seams aren’t perfect.

Hoodie Unicorn Costume Steps 2 Left Brain Craft Brain

  1. Cut mane fringe in both colors.  I cut the fleece into sections approximately 1 cm wide.  Cut the pieces almost all the way to the seam with the hoodie, being careful not to cut through the seam or any of the neighboring fabric

Cut Unicorn Mane Left Brain Craft Brain

Make the Unicorn Tail

  1. Cut a 4″ x 12″ rectangle of fleece in both colors.  Stack the two pieces together and roll them up.  You should end up with a jelly roll looking thing about a foot along and one inch wide.
  2. Pin one end of the roll to the bottom of the back of the hoodie.  Be sure to center it.
  3. Now sew the tail onto the hoodie.  I did some hand sewing for this step, but a machine will work too.
  4. Finally, cut the tail into strips just like you did with the mane.

Unicorn Tail Steps Left Brain Craft Brain

Make the Unicorn Horn

  1. Cut a 4-5″ radius circle out of purple fleece (I used a dinner plate and traced around it.).  Trim edges to make sure it is uniform.
  2. Cut circle in half.
  3. Roll up the half circle into a cone shape as shown in picture.
  4. Take 4 of your small elastic bands and place them over the horn about one inch apart.  These hold the horn together and give it the characteristic unicorn look.
  5. Fold the ends of the horn base inside the horn so that you have a flat circle at the bottom.  Pin to the front center seam of the hood, over the mane and hand sew it on.  You’re sewing through a lot of layers of fleece here, so a thimble can help save your thumb…

Unicorn Horn Steps Left Brain Craft Brain

Hoodie Unicorn closeup Left Brain Craft Brain

Make the Unicorn Ears

  1. Cut an egg-shaped piece of purple fleece about 3″ long.  Cut a bit off the bottom to make it flat.
  2. Then cut an egg-shaped piece of pink about 1/4″ smaller all the way around the sides.
  3. Stack the two pieces together and cut across the bottom to make a flat edge.  Glue together with a hot glue gun or fabric glue.
  4. Fold in the sides of the bottom of the ear.  Then pin to the hood approximately 3 inches from the front of hood and three inches from the center mane seam.  Be sure to move the mane out-of-the-way, you want to sew to the hoodie, not the mane. Then hand sew the ears on.

Hoodie Unicorn Ears Left Brain Craft Brain

Make the Unicorn Hooves

  1. First for the front hooves, you need your child to get the size right.  Cut an elongated half circle big enough to cover the child’s wrist and hand completely.
  2. Fold in half and cut out a triangle from the curved side.  Think long pointy triangle to make it look right.
  3. Cut a 1″ piece of 1/4″ wide elastic.  Sew each end to the bottom corners of the hooves.
  4. For the back hooves, you need your kiddo’s shoes.  Drape an oval of fabric over the shoe.  Cut the fleece until it is just smaller than the shoe.  Make a chalk mark at the opening of the shoe and cut out the hole.
  5. Just like on the front hooves, cut a small triangle out of the front of the hoof.  Then make a vertical cut at the heel area.  You can either use fusible Velcro or a safety pin to close these around your kiddo’s ankles.

Hoodie Unicorn Hooves Left Brain Craft Brain

And there you have it!  One adorable Homemade Hoodie Unicorn Costume!  I hope your kiddo has fun jumping and playing and running and playing unicorn like my girl did.  By the end of this photo shoot, she was one tired unicorn!!

Homemade Hoodie Unicorn Costume Laying Down Left Brain Craft Brain

Thanks for talking unicorns with me today.  This is my first sewing tutorial, so if you have any questions, go ahead and ask in the comments!  I’m here to help :)

Homemade Hoodie Unicorn Costume Tutorial Left Brain Craft Brain FB

11 thoughts on “Homemade Hoodie Unicorn Costume”

  1. I made this for my daughter without the horn but the hood wont stay up. did you guys have this problem at all? Im thinking I need to add more fabric to the front part of the hood maybe?

    1. leftbraincraftbrain

      Hi Kristina. We used some clip barrettes to help it stay on her head. Also, if you find the hood is too heavy (some fleece is heavier than others), you can trim out a few of the pieces in the mane. The other option is to sew a small piece of elastic or some fabric with Velcro that your daughter can wear under her chin. Be sure it’s stretchy or can be pulled off so that it’s not a choking hazard.

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  3. Thanks so much for your tutorial (I found through a Pinterest search)…I know it’s a few years old, but I used it this year to make myself a unicorn Halloween costume!
    I altered a couple of things, but it really helped to have your instructions on hand. I’m not much of a seamstress (I know the very basics, that’s it) and had to borrow my mom’s sewing machine (and facetime with my sister to thread it lol!). Thanks again and Happy Halloween!

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