How to Make a Lion Costume

Last Updated: December 14, 2022

Dressing up as the king of the jungle is a fun costume to make yourself. Creating a lion’s costume is a quick and easy solution for a last minute Halloween safari. With a few pieces of fabric and minimal sewing, you can make the loudest roar when you enter the room.

Part 1

Part 1 of 5:

Preparing to Create a Costume

1
Gather your supplies. Purchase all the necessary clothing and cloth materials you will need to make your costume. Visit your local craft or fabric store to get most of the items.
- 1 yard of brown felt
- 1 yard of yellow fleece
- 1/2 yard each of brown and gold fleece
- Gold colored sweatsuit or onesie
- 1 yard of 1" elastic
- Plastic Headband
- Polyester pillow stuffing
- Brown yarn
- Yellow and brown thread
2
Lay out your crafting tools. Set up a sewing machine where you will have enough space to feed the fabric from the front to the back of the machine. Get a pair of sharp scissors to obtain the smoothest cuts in your fabric. A quality fabric glue can also help save you some time sewing. Gather these tools and have them ready when you begin making your costume:
- Scissors
- Sewing machine
- Fabric glue
- Tape measure
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3
Set up your work space. Use a clean table to lay out your pieces of fabric flat for cutting. Make sure you are in a place with plenty of light. Move a lamp next to your table if possible.

Part 2

Part 2 of 5:

Making the Body of the Costume

1
Purchase a golden sweatsuit. Buy a sweatshirt and sweatpants that are golden colored for the lion’s body.
- A golden colored onesie makes a great lion’s body for a toddler.
2
Cut a brown oval out of felt. Measure the distance from the middle of the chest to the belly button. Cut a felt oval to cover the belly of the person wearing the costume.
3
Attach the oval to the body’s belly. Use fabric glue or sew a brown felt oval to the stomach of the costume.^{[1]
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- If you are using a onesie, place the felt on the front of the onesie. Cut the oval in half where the zipper of the onesie goes up.

Part 3

Part 3 of 5:

Creating the Lion’s Ears

1
Cut four ovals from brown felt. Measure the ovals to be 6 inches tall by 4 inches wide. Depending on the age and size of the person wearing the costume, you may want to make the ears larger or smaller.^{[2]
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2
Sew two ovals together to create an ear. Leave one of the short ends of the ovals unsewn. Use a sewing machine or hand stitch the fabric together around the edges.
3
Turn the ears inside out. Push the fabric through the unsewn end to turn the stitching on the inside of the ear.
4
Stuff the ears with polyester fiber. Use pillow filling to fill the ears. Place enough filling to give the ears some volume. You do not need to stuff the ear completely full; a small wad in each ear is enough.
5
Pinch the ears in the middle to create their shape. Push the filling to the outside to create a full look around the exterior of the ear. Add more stuffing if you need to create a thicker ear. Place a few stitches in the center of the ear to keep the middle pinched together. ^{[3]
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6
Sew the ears to a headband. Wrap the open ends of the ears around a plastic headband. Attach the ears to the headband by sewing the open ends together around the band.

Part 4

Part 4 of 5:

Making the Lion’s Mane

1
Purchase fabric and elastic to create the mane. Visit your local fabric store to obtain yellow, gold, and brown colored fleece fabric.
- Get ½ yard of each color of fleece.
- Buy a 1-yard piece of 1" elastic.
2
Measure the head of the person wearing the lion costume. Measure around the person’s head from top to bottom. You want to measure under the chin, around the face, and over the crown of the person’s head.
3
Cut the elastic 1 inch shorter than the distance around the head. Make the elastic shorter than the distance around the head so it will fit snugly when stretched around the head.
4
Cover the elastic in yellow fleece. Cut a strip of fabric 2 ¼ inches wide. Place the elastic inside the fleece and sew the long edge of the fleece fabric together with the elastic inside.
- Cut another 2 1/2 inch strip of fleece to use for the lion’s tail.
5
Cut the remaining yellow, gold, and brown fleece into strips. Create fringe to make the lion’s mane with strips of fabric. Cut the strips to be 3-6 inches long and ¾ inch wide.
6
Sew or glue the strips to the elastic covered headband. Use fabric glue or a simple hand stitch to attach the fringe strips to the yellow band with the elastic.^{[4]
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- Alternate colors and stack multiple strips to create a colorful look.
7
Sew the ends of the yellow band together. Finish the headband by connecting the two ends of the elastic together to form a circle.
- Make sure to firmly connect the ends of the elastic together so the stretching does not rip the seam.
8
Wrap the headband around the head from the chin to the top of the head. Place the lion’s mane around your face by stretching the elastic under your chin and over the top of your head.

Part 5

Part 5 of 5:

Creating a Lion’s Tail

1
Get a strip of yellow fleece. Cut a piece of yellow fleece 2 1/2 inches wide and 3 feet long. Sew the long edges of the fabric together to form a hollow tube of fabric.
2
Stuff the tail with polyfil to give it structure. Use the same pillow filling that you used for the ears to provide some body to your lion’s tail.
3
Add hair to the tip of the tail. Use fabric glue to attach brown yarn or thin strips of brown fleece to the tip of the tail.
- Wrap brown yarn loosely around your hand 10 times.
- Pull the yarn off your hand and squeeze the loops at one end.
- Tie a piece of yarn around one end of the loops to secure them together.
- Cut the yarn on the opposite end from where you tied to create frayed ends.
- Glue the yarn “hair” to the end of the tail.
4
Attach the tail to the body of the costume. Sew the end of the tail to the back of the pants or back of the onesie. Use a needle and thread to apply a few stitches to the tail to attach it to the costume.

Community Q&A

Question

Would this work for a Lion King musical?

Community Answer

It may, but it depends on the part you are playing in the musical. i.e. Scar has a significantly different look from Simba.
Question

How do I cut a onesie to make a lion costume?

Community Answer

A onesie would work the same way as the sweatpants/shirt. Just add the tail.
Question

If I don't have filling, could I use something else?

HumanBeing

Top Answerer

Anything soft can be used in place of the suggested polyester pillow stuffing: cotton wool, rags cut into pieces, even torn-up scrap paper or old newspapers would do for stuffing the ears and tail of your lion costume.