Umbrella Bat Costume: Easy to follow, no sew instructions

Do you need a bat costume before Halloween but can’t sew? Perhaps you need to dress up as a bat for another occasion? This glorious membranous umbrella bat costume is cheap, looks great and no-sew and they’re perfect for your costume-themed dress up party.

What you will need:

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• Good quality black umbrella
• Wire/side cutters
• Black electrical tape
• 2 metres of 25mm wide black ribbon
• Scissors

Safety Tip
Umbrellas may differ slightly from store to store. This umbrella  has small plastic balls on the ends of the arms (not pointy metal tips) which make the wings much safer.

How to make Umbrella Bat Costume

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1. To start, secure the umbrella to a fully open position. Turn it upside down on a work bench and use the scissors to cut two triangles of material out directly opposite each other. Cut one of the triangles slightly smaller than the other by not cutting all the way to the centre. This way it will be easier to distinguish the top and the bottom of the wings.

2. Next, use the wire cutters to cut the metal supports that hold the umbrella up, making sure you cut as much of the metal off as possible to ensure there are no sharp edges.

3. Cut the large metal handle off of the umbrella. First cut it down to the plastic and then cut the plastic off.

4. Please note the umbrella diagram below for the next process. You’re almost there! These umbrella bat wings will be worth it!

 

5. Cut the joiner from all the arms of the umbrella below. Don’t worry if there are a few sharp edges here. These will be taped up in the next steps.

6. Next, remove support on arms A & B to allow these arms to fold with your child’s arms.

7. With electrical tape, secure the remaining loose supports onto arms C, D, E, F, G and H to keep them straight. Ensure you’ve covered any sharp edges very well.

8. Measure and cut two pieces of the ribbon, enough to tie the bat wings to your child’s wrists.
9. Measure and cut two longer pieces of ribbon to come across your child’s shoulders, cross over the chest and go under their arms and tie together at the back.
10. Attach the ribbon to top of the bat wings like the image below.

Finish the umbrella bat costume

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Here’s how to put it all together:
• Black t shirt and black pants
• Bat ears: The ears are made using black painted cardboard and were glued on to a black headband.
• Bat nose: The nosed was made using a paper cup that was cut in half, painted black and a pink button glued on to it.

 

This umbrella bat wing costume is a perfect way to recycle a broken black (or multicoloured) umbrella too!

More Halloween Activities

• Flapping Bat Craft
• Spider web desserts
• Build a Spider Web obstacle Course
• Observe a bat colony
• Keep Mealworms as pets
• Bat craft

What are you dressing up as this Halloween?