How to Make a Baby Rabbit-in-a-Hat Costume

Say "abracadabra" and a white hoodie, black felt, wire, and bow tie become baby's first Halloween ensemble.

Rabbit in a Hat costume
Photo: Johnny Miller

Few Halloweens are as memorable as the first one spent with your newborn. But if you're still trying to find the perfect tiny costume, consider this rabbit-in-a-hat ensemble. Not only is the costume easy to make, but it will also keep your baby warm during a brisk evening of trick-or-treating.

A white hoodie and black footed pants make up the base of the costume, so there's little to do on your part. The most time consuming part is making the hat, which is accomplished by cutting out pieces of thick black felt and gluing them together to make the base and brim.

For the finishing touches, attach ears made from white felt and millinery wire to the hood of your sweatshirt and clip-on a bow tie. Cut leg holes into the base of the top hat and—abracadabra—place your adorable bunny inside.

What You'll Need

Materials

  • 2 Pieces lightweight wire, such as floral or millinery
  • White felt and thick black felt
  • Fabric scissors and marker
  • White hoodie
  • Black footed pants
  • Hot glue gun
  • Large bowl (with an opening large enough for your infant to comfortably sit in)
  • Clip-on bow tie

Instructions

  1. Make the rabbit ears:

    Bend wires into rabbit-ear shapes. Cut four same-size rabbit-ear-shaped pieces of white felt, just wider than wire shapes, leaving a few inches of wire at bottom. Hot-glue edges of two rabbit-ear pieces together.

  2. Place rabbit ears over wire:

    Slip the rabbit ears over the wire frame. Feed wire ends of one ear through material at top of hoodie where you want the first ear to be.

  3. Attach ears to hoodie:

    Twist wire ends together inside hoodie to secure; if wire ends are scratchy, cover with small pieces of felt. Repeat for other ear. Bend ears as desired.

  4. Cut out felt pieces for hat:

    Use bowl to trace a large circle onto black felt; cut out. (This will be the top of the top hat.) To make the brim, trace the bowl's opening again, then add about 4 inches all the way around. Cut out to make a donut shape.

  5. Wrap strip of felt around hat:

    Place a strip of black felt on its side and wrap along edge of hat's top; cut to a length and height that lets it wrap all the way around—it should reach just under your baby's arms (ours is about 36 by 8 inches).

  6. Cut leg holes:

    Set strip around your baby to see where to cut leg holes, then cut two semicircle openings along bottom edge.

  7. Glue strips to hat:

    Hot-glue strip around edge of top of hat, making sure leg holes are at bottom; hot-glue a thin strip over back area where the two strip edges meet to secure. Hot-glue brim around top edge of strip.

  8. Add finishing touches:

    Clip bow tie to hoodie; combine costume with footed pants.

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