Kater's Taters: Cowardly Lion

Roar!

What do you do when an adult male needs a Cowardly Lion costume for a work event? You get sent a hoodie and told to get to it!

"With pleasure!" I replied.

So I ordered up 3 skeins of 100% polyester yarn from Dick Blick for it's sticky quality, making the lion mane more of a single entity instead of individual strands.

Want to make your own? Easy!

Cut a million pieces of yarn 12" long and sew them in half along the edge of the hood of a hoodie. Then, cut a million more pieces of yarn 10" long and do 2 more rows behind the original row about 3/4" away. I then did 2 more short rows down the crown, between the seams if you your hoodie has them like mine (see image 1). I also did a row of 10" long pieces around the arm cuffs.

Next you need some ears. I got a fluffy, almost felted, fabric that was a near exact match to the hoodie color. For the ears I drew out a rough ear shape and cut 4 (see image 2). Sew two together on the curve but not the flat bottom, then turn them right sides out. I also opted to fold the ear in half and sew a small (about 1/2") dart in the fold so that it would curl like a real ear (see image 3). Then hand sew the ear onto the hood! I placed mine at an angle going from the longer middle mane rows to the side (see image 4 & picture 4, which is the hoodie front).

Next is the tail. Using the same fabric as the ears, cut a 5" wide by however long (mine was 42") and sew it with right sides together, leaving one small end open to turn the tail right-side out. Use Fiberfill to stuff the tail. I also inserted wire from Home Depot that came from the electric section that was sold by the foot. It was about .40 cents/foot and I got 4 feet so I could bend it in half to have a double sturdiness once inserted into the tail. Now you can curve it and it will stay! I don't remember what the name of the wire was, only that the guy said it had the most resistance and it was dark gray/blackish in color.

I was also in charge of making a way to attach the tail to a belt or belt loops. So, before I sewed the top of the tail closed I also put in a length of bias tape I had on hand so he could tie it to the back belt loop. (see picture5)