I don’t know why I’m making these food costumes for Jersey, but you must admit, it’s pretty darn cute! If you want to make one just like it, follow along, it’s not that hard to make.
FYI - Like any piece of dog clothing, supervise your dog when it is wearing this costume. Before you go out on Halloween with your dog, practice wearing the costume and walking with it on. That way you’ll BOTH have a fun
Tools And Supplies You’ll Need
This costume was a little more pricey than the last costume I did with the grapes , everything cost about $25. You’ll need craft foam balls, yellow spray paint, velcro, spray adhesive (heavy duty), an exacto knife, a marking pen, pinking shears (the ones that cut zig zags), and yellow and green broadcloth.
STEP 1 - Measuring Your Dog
You’ll need three measurements;
The back from the shoulder blades to the rump
The middle of the chest to the beginning of the back leg.
The circumference of the chest.
STEP 2 - Cutting The Foam Balls
The foam balls are what is going to be used to make the corn niblets. To give the appearance of niblets, take an exacto knife & *carefully* cut the balls in half. Take great care that the knife doesn’t slip and cut you!
STEP 3 - Perparing The Half Circles For Painting
Spread out newspapers on a flat surface and place the foam balls on it, flat side down.
STEP 4 - Painting the Foam Half Circles
Before you paint the foam, make sure that the paint that you have chosen is compatible with foam. If it’s not, the foam will melt into a sticky mess.
Open a window, start a fan or whatever. Just ensure that you have good ventilation. Spray paint gets pretty smelly and gives off some serious fumes! Give the foam a good coat of yellow paint and let them dry for a good hour or so.
STEP 5 - Measuring The Yellow Cloth
You’re now going to measure and cut the yellow cloth for the “corn” part. From the fold of the fabric, measure 1/3 of the circumference measurement that you got. jersey was 30 inches , so I marked off 10 inches. Take the back measurement and mark that off along the fold of the fabric, starting from the front end of the fabric, Jersey was 13 inches. Now cut it within the measurements that you have made.
STEP 6 - Cutting The Belly Straps
Cut two 3″ wide straps by 8″ to 12″, depending on your dog’s size. I used the pinking shears so that the fabric won’t fray.
STEP 7 - Measuring And Cutting Out The Corn Leaves
Take your side measurement & make a measurement starting from the beginning of the fabric. This is how long your leaf will be. Trace any corn-like leaf pattern that you wish. Cut it out with the pinking shears which will keep the fabric from fraying and it will make the leaf look more leaf-like.
STEP 8 - Adding Velcro To The Leaves
Now it’s time to attach the velcro. Cut two 2″ squares and place them on the leaves. I just stapled them down, but you can sew them down, if you wish. If you are going to staple down the velcro, make sure that the part of the staple that curves over is IN the “sticky” parts of the velcro. This way it won’t rub against your dog’s coat causing possible irritation.
STEP 9 - Pinning The Costume Together
Put the leaves together and place the yellow fabric over your dog’s back. Now pin the leaves to the yellow fabric. Be careful not to stick your dog with the pins! Take off the costume and pin the belly straps to the yellow fabric.
STEP 10 - Sewing The Belly Straps
Sew each belly strap in a box pattern with a line through it. This will reinforce the stitching and seams.
STEP 11 - Sewing The Leaves Part One
Sew a seam about 1 inch away from the edge of the green fabric, joining the yellow and green together.
STEP 12 - Sewing The Leaves Part Two
Flip the fabric over the sew another seam about 1 inch away from the end of the yellow fabric. Repeat steps 12 & 13 for the other leaf. When you are done all your sewing, trim all the loose threads.
STEP 13 - Adding Velcro To The Belly Straps
Now it’s time to add the velcro to the belly straps. Lay your costume out flat and extend the straps flat out. Take your chest circumference, add 2 inches and measure it out on the belly straps. For Jersey I measured 32 inches. Make marks & cut the excess fabric. Cut a good three inches of velcro & attach them to opposite sides of the straps. You can staple or sew, it’s your choice. If you are going to staple, remember that the curved ends of the staples should go into the “sticky” sides of the velcro.
STEP 14 - Gluing The Foam Onto The Costume
Place the costume coat on newspaper. This part is probably the messiest! Before you start gluing, make sure that the adhesive that you choose is compatable with foam.
You have to take each individual half circle and spray it with a good amount of glue. Now place the half circle, flat side down on the yellow fabric. Repeat this until all the yellow fabric is covered with the ”niblets”. The glue now needs to dry, I just placed it over an open box. A good hour to dry will suffice.
If you need a stronger attachment for the foam half circles, you can take a thick thread and darning needle and sew the half circles to the fabric.
So there’s how you make my corn dog costume. The only regret that I have with making this costume is that I didn’t use interfacing on the back of the leaves to make them stiffer. Interfacing is pretty cheap and you can get fusible stuff that sticks to the fabric with some ironing.
