How To Make A Sock Monkey Costume

If you are searching for easy DIY Halloween costumes this year, look no further! This adorable little sock monkey is made out of a sweater! 2 of my daughters have enjoyed wearing this little costume for Halloween and the best part is that it keeps them super warm.

It’s easy to learn how to make a sock monkey costume. All you need is just a little bit of sewing experience, and old sweater and some creativity. You can make a cute sock monkey costume for your little one in no time!

Searching for easy DIY Halloween Costumes: Look no further with this adorable sock monkey made out of a sweater!

Materials Needed For A Sock Monkey Costume:

Here’s what you will need:

Adult size tan or brown sweater
Sock Monkey Hat (or a hat that you can DIY)
Sewing Machine
Red and White Felt

Instructions For How To Make A Sock Monkey Costume

Before I start the tutorial, here are a few disclaimers:

this is the first time I’ve attempted to make something without a pattern, so bear with me. It’s not perfect!
I used a serger for some of the steps, but you can easily do a zig zag stitch instead because I know most people don’t own sergers. (I’m sure I will be saying this over and over again.)

Step 1. Find a pair of pants or leggings, fold them in half and trace around them to create your pattern piece. I also cut off the end of the pattern for the cuff.

Step 2. Lay your pattern piece on the fold, pin it down and cut out. I used a sleeve for each leg.

Step 3. Unfold and pin on your cuff, right sides together and sew. (Do this to each leg)

Step 4. Sew the legs, right sides together along the curved edges.

Step 5. Flip the pants the other way around and sew along the inseam of the legs, right sides together.

Step 6. Attach the waistband, fold over and insert elastic. (sorry, not all of this is pictured!!)

Step 7. Turn right side out and now they should resemble pants!

Step 8. Do your research. I grabbed a sock monkey we had to look at the tail.

Step 9. Cut out some felt in red and white to resemble to sock monkey rear area. Sew in place by hand.

Step 10. Cut out a rectangle for the tail. I just eyeballed how long to make it. Cut another curved white piece of felt for the end of the tail.

Step 11. Attach the white piece to the rectangle, sew up one end and stuff it. (Again, sorry this isn’t all pictured, I’m learning!)

Last step is to attach the tail by hand sewing it on. Mine definitely does NOT look perfect, but it’s a Halloween costume that will be worn a handful of times, so I can keep it all in perspective. No one will notice the flaws.

For the Sock Monkey Shirt:

Here is that same sweater before:

Turn an old sweater into a sock monkey costume!

And this is what the top will look like after:

Step 1: Find a shirt to use as a pattern. The only long sleeved one I could find was a onesie, but I made it work.

Step 2. Fold in half and trace on folded paper, making it about 1/2 inch bigger all around.

Step 3: The sleeves will be a separate pattern piece. You will need one piece for the front and one for the back. Notice that the neckline in the front is a tad deeper than the back piece. That is the only difference.

Step 4: Because of limited space on the sweater, I had to make my back piece 2 parts and then sew them together. It ended up working fine to do it this way.

Step 5: Trace the sleeve and cut out on the fold. Make sure the curve of the top of the sleeve matches up with the curve of the body piece (that you cut out in step 3)

Step 6: This is where it gets a bit tricky to explain and I don’t know if I took enough pictures. Sew the tops of the body pieces at the shoulders right sides together (not pictured). Next, lay the piece out and pin the sleeves at the shoulders like shown in the picture. Right sides together. Sew with a zigzag or serge.

Step 7: If you fold the shirt back up the other way, it will look more like a shirt! With right sides together, zigzag or serge along the sides of the shirt and sleeves.

Step 8: Sew a strip from the bottom finished edge of the original thrift store sweater to the bottom of the new sweater to finish it off.

Step 9: Since this is just a costume and doesn’t need to be perfectly finished, I just serged around the neckline. You could try to do more of a finished collar if you wanted.

And you are done!