For Kids Halloween Costumes

Oogie Boogie Halloween Costume

September 17, 2018 by Steph No Comments

In this post I will show you how to make your very own Oogie Boogie Halloween Costume! Like most first time mom’s whose adorable little baby has now learned to walk, I got super excited for Halloween! While pondering about what I wanted my son’s first Halloween costume to be I had a couple guidelines in place I felt were crucial.

His costume had to be scary but also cute! Although I love adorable costumes, I still felt strongly that I wanted this costume to embody the true essence of Halloween!
It had to be recognizable. I wanted to make something people would notice instantly.
I didn’t want it to be generic (ex: witch, ghost, zombie)

With these rules I set in place for myself I thought “wow, I really love a challenge!” The internet was a great place to start for inspiration. I started googling classic Halloween movies for kids and one of the first to pop up was “The Nightmare Before Christmas.” This was perfect! I absolutely love all Tim Burton movies and this was definitely one of my favorites! Now that I had my movie, picked out I instantly thought “Oogie Boogie!”

I really wanted to make a costume that was original and not popular but that people would instantly recognize. The funny part is that I had no concept of how I was going to make this oogie boogie halloween costume. It had been rolling around in my head for a few days before I actually committed. First step, was fabric!

I happen to love JoAnn fabric because of the coupons and the inventory. I took a trip and started searching. Originally the only type of fabric that felt appropriate for Oogie was burlap, but I wasn’t crazy about putting my 1 year old in a scratchy, itchy, burlap sack. Finally, I came across some linen that had a similar look but a much softer feel. I happened to find a shade that had a bit of a grungy look to it, so I snatched it up and began perusing the store for other elements I could add to the costume. I came across some “Glow in the dark” fabric paint and thought “YESSSS! Oogie Boogie glows in the dark, this is going to be amazing!

Next I had to figure out how my little boy would be able to see out of his Oogie Boogie halloween costume, so I figured the hole for Oogie’s mouth would be the best place for his super cute little chubby face to poke through. I needed to create some rigidity to the opening of his mouth so that the face hole would stay in place and not obstruct his view. For that I used some jumbo chenille stem pipe cleaner wire (black of course). Next I needed some black felt for Oogie’s eyes.

For the rest, I decided to go home and wing it. If there was anything else I needed I’d probably already have it in my craft bin. Here is a list of all that you will need to create your own toddler Oogie Boogie Halloween Costume:

Your child’s measurements (Height, Arm Span, Head Circumference)
Fabric of your choice ( I chose linen)
A zipper (choose a length appropriate for your child’s height)
Chenille Stem
Black Yarn
Glow in the Dark Paint ( I used Fabric Paint)
A sheet of Black Felt
Stuffing for the head
Fake Bugs
An old gift box for cutting out cubes for the Oogie Boogie Dice

How to Measure Your Child

Step 1. Cut Your Pattern

You will need 2 pieces of fabric of equal height. The height of this fabric should be your child’s height plus an additional 8″ for Oogie’s pointy head. Fold your fabric in half. For the front piece you will need to draw your Oogie Boogie outline with the center on the folded part of the fabric so that when it opens you’ll have a full Oogie Boogie cut out. Make sure you add a 1/4 ” additional seam allowance (See dotted line on sketch below). Cut this piece out first, keep it folded in half, then line it up on the second piece of fabric of the open edge. You will want 2 separate pieces for the back to allow for the zipper being sewn in. When drawing your pattern shape, make sure that the arm piece is half of your child’s arm span plus an additional 8″ for the fabric to come to a point. *Note- If you are making this costume for a larger child, you may need to cut the arm’s out on a separate piece of fabric and attach them to the main body.

Step 2. Sewing in the Zipper

Take your two back pieces and pin your zipper in the middle of of both pieces. Make sure you’ve got your zipper so that it will be on the correct side of the fabric (side with no marks). If you need help learning how to sew in a hidden zipper take a look at this invisible zipper tutorial. Once the zipper in sewn in, finish sewing up the back so it becomes a single piece.

Step 3. Cut Your Mouth Hole

The mouth hole of your oogie boogie halloween costume will be cut on the front piece of course. This step is super important before sewing the edges of your costume together, otherwise you won’t be able to get to the inside of the costume to unzip the zipper and flip the fabric inside out to hide your seams. You want to estimate where your child’s head will end up so measure 8″ from the top of the point down. This is where the top of your child’s head will end up. You can sketch a light circle roughly the size of your child’s head and then cut the mouth hole (a straight line across) in the center of that face hole.

Step 4. Cut wrist holes on front piece

You will need open up your front piece and measure your child’s arm span across the costumes arms. Cut two slits wide enough for each of your child’s hands to come through. Don’t cut too close the the pattern’s edge.

Step 5. Sew Your Raw Edges

Your raw edges will be…

The wrist slits
The bottoms of the feet on the front piece and back piece
Don’t worry about the mouth opening. You will stitching that with yarn.

You can just sew a regular stitch to keep the fabric from fraying. For the wrist slits I sewed a pattern for decoration. Do whatever you want!

Step 6. Sew Your Oogie Boogie Halloween Costume Together

Match up your Oogie Boogie halloween costume’s front piece with the back piece and pin it together. This should be inside out. Your zipper will be on the inside of the costume. Once it’s sewn together you will flip it inside out and won’t see any stitches. *Do NOT sew the bottom of the feet. Your child’s feet will come through this opening.

Step 7. Flip your costume inside out

Once you’re done sewing your front piece and back piece together, your costume is almost complete! Flip it inside out so all of your stitching is on the inside and your zipper is right side out and functional! You can use a pair of pointy scissors to push the fabric inside out on the points of the arms and head.

Step 8. Sew your mouth hole

Take a doll needle and grab a very long piece of black yarn. Thread the needle, match the ends of the yarn up, and double knot the end. (Just like you thread a needle to hand sew). Take a piece of black chenille stem and measure it to be the size of the mouth hole. It should be a large circle the size of the mouth opening. Twist the ends together to close the circle. Place your circle inside the mouth opening. You’re going to want to wrap the fabric around the chenille stem and sew it in with the yarn to secure it. Once you have the chenille stem sewn in you can shape the mouth to look more like Oogie Boogies.

Step 9. Cut out and glue eyes for Oogie Boogie Halloween Costume

You can cut the shape of Oogie Boogie’s eyes out of some black felt. Get creative: I looked at some different pictures of him online to create different eye shapes. I used hot glue to glue them on. Then I rolled some linen scraps to make eye brows and glued them on top.

Step 10. Thread the top string for Oogie’s spider:

I used some pieces of burlap threads to do this. Take your doll needle and thread a piece of string through the point of his head. You can double knot it so it wont come through. I added a little hot glue to keep it in place. Then you can tie a fake spider to the end of it.

Step 11. Sew pleats for Oogie’s Neck and Belly

Take a look at your Oogie Boogie halloween costume and pin a few pleats under his neck to create that wrinkled effect. Sew those with a simple stitch to keep them in place. For his belly you can flip the costume inside out and pleat the bottom seam between his legs. Stitch those in and flip the costume right side out to create this effect. I added some pleats to his cheeks as well to give him the effect in the photo. Step 12. Stuff Oogie Boogie’s Head: Take some polyfill and stuff it into the top of Oogie’s head. Just enough to give it some shape. You can shove a piece of chenille stem into the poly fill up to the point of his head so you can bend the tip of his head down. Cut a round circle out of your fabric scraps and hot glue it up into the head to keep the poly fill in place. Make sure you glue it far enough up so your child’s head will fit in the costume and their face will end up in the mouth hole. Should be at the top of Oogie Boogie’s eyes depending on where your glued them.

Step 13. Make your Oogie Boogie Halloween Costume Glow!

Get out your Glow-in-the-dark fabric paint! I would do this part on a tarp in a garage or outside so you don’t get it everywhere. You can use whatever type of glow in the dark paint you want. I used fabric paint and watered it down a bit to help it spread. I painted it on with a wide paint brush, then i splatter painted it with the concentrated paint to create a cool effect. You can use a black light to charge the paint and see how the glow in the dark effect turns out. *Try not to get it on the black parts of his eyes!

Step 14. Add Embellishments

I used a piece of vine charcoal to add some shadowing to all of Oogie Boogie’s creases (belly pleats, arm pits, neck creases, under his eyes) and make him look more 3-Dimensional. Apply the charcoal in between all of the pleats and smudge it with your fingers to add a 3-Dimensional effect. Next I used black acrylic paint to paint stitches around the seams of the costume and I painted an opening on his side for his bugs to come out of.

You can either paint your own bugs on your Oogie Boogie halloween costume using acrylic paint or hot glue some fake ones on. I did both. As an added precaution I used clear fishing line to sew the plastic bugs to the costume so they would not fall off. You can also use some extra pieces of burlap thread to glue here and there to the costume to make it look like his stitches are coming loose.

Step 15: Oogie Boogie’s Dice (Optional)

Print out 2 the Oogie Boogie Dice and cut them out. Then trace the shape of them onto a gift box. Cut them out on the inside your trace line so they are slightly smaller than the printed pieces. Score all of the sections of the box cut out pieces where they need to fold with a ruler and a knife or a pair of scissors. Tape it up into a cube and then wrap the print out around the cardboard cube. I used pipe cleaners to create the little snake that comes out of the dice and some felt for his head. I glued red beads for his eyes and added some white thread around his mouth and made little arms out of white thread as well. Then I punctured one of the dice through the holes and wound his body through.