DIY Where The Wild Things Are Max Costume

Happy Belated Halloween! The night before Halloween I was in a frenzy making my son a second costume. Don’t worry the Lion-O costume is doing just fine and was the preferred costume for parties and trick-or-treating. Unfortunately, it did not fit the guidelines for school. My son’s school requires all costumes to be of a literary or historical character. They have to bring in the book about their character. My son went to school as Max, King of the Wild Things. I made the entire costume the day before Halloween. By some amazing miracle I finished it and he wore it all day at school.

My secret weapon for this costume was a faux fur throw blanket. White faux fur was pricing out at $29.99 per yard at the fabric store. I bought a 50 x 70″ faux fur throw blanket at HomeGoods for $19.99. I got all the other supplies for under $10. Considering Pottery Barn was selling a Max costume for $79, I think I did pretty well.

To create the costume as quick as could be, I folded the blanket in half with the fur on the inside. I laid out one of my son’s shirts and pants as a guide. I cut out about 1″ larger around the clothes. Times like this are when I love my serger. I whipped the layers of fur and lining through my serger to sew all the seams. A little bias tape and zipper later and the suit was done. I used one of my son’s jacket hoods as a guide for the hood.

I made the crown from two layers of a gold-ish vinyl remnant. I sewed the thick, darker fur in a band around the crown. I used the same fur for the tail. The tail is attached to the suit with a strip of velcro.

I finished the costume late after the kids had gone to bed.  I was able to snap these pictures right before school.  This was my son’s best “wild rumpus” face:

This was our second WTWTA affair.  A few years ago we through a Where The Wild Things Are Wild Rumpus birthday party.

Off to try to de-fur every surface in my house…