Spinosaurus Costume

Today, I had my first school visit as a published author. Wahoo!!! (Shameless self-promotion: DEAR SANTASAURUS is out on October 1st.)

I knew I needed something special to wear. I wanted to dress the part.  After hitting the mall, I decided I could make my own outfit for the big day.

And here it is...

Modeled by my lovely daughter

Would you like to make your own Spinosaurus costume for Halloween or just to scare the dog? (It really makes my dog nervous when I wear this. Not sure why?)

Here's how I made mine...

First. The supplies: a green hoodie, colored felt, interfacing (for stiffness), thread, scissors, glue, cardboard to make a pattern.

Not all supplies are shown. I don't want to make it too easy.

Iron the stiff interfacing to the felt. Follow the directions on the interfacing. I didn't and got white goo on my iron. Luckily, I don't use my iron much.

Ironing - something new to me

Create a spine pattern, trace (mirror trace) and cut. Leave a 1-2 inch space between the spines for thickness at the bottom.

The pattern made from an old Amazon box.

Traced, then mirrored and traced. Notice the gap.

Pin and then sew. Sewing in a straight line is optional.

Use more pins than I did. I was lazy. It was a mess.

The lines are kinda straight.

Trim back the edge of the interfacing. I did this in the picture above. If not, the felt and the interfacing are too thick to sew through.

Next, pull the outside of the spine together and sew.

Lots of pins!

Sew together in harmony

Then I added a few stitched lined for texture. I didn't want to look like turtle. That wouldn't be cool.

Not a turtle shell

Things get easier now as I add teeth.

Teeth pattern - I recommend a triangle. A circle or a square would look odd.

Pin and sew.

And finally eyes. (The white is self-sticking.)

Circles are good for eyes

I used the spool as a pattern for the pupil

The scary head

I did put a few hand stitches in the pupil. I didn't want to lose an eyeball. 


And that is my dinosaur outfit!