How to Make a Gnome Costume

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Things You'll Need

  • Measuring tape

  • Poster board

  • Pencil

  • Ruler

  • 1 yard red felt

  • Chalk

  • Scissors

  • Sewing pins

  • Sewing machine

  • Red thread

  • White felt

  • 1/8-inch white skinny elastic

  • White thread

  • Sewing needle

  • Cotton batting

  • Hot glue gun

  • Glue

According to legend, garden gnomes help tend the garden at night.
Image Credit: mbolina/iStock/Getty Images

Don't just be an ordinary traveler on your next adventure – become a traveling gnome. Cross over to a magical place when you add a few handmade costume elements to wardrobe basics like trousers, a blue button shirt and your favorite suspenders. You will be ready to hit the town in style when sporting your hand-crafted garden gnome hat and your one-of-a-kind garden gnome beard.

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Easy Gnome Hat

Step 1

Measure the circumference of your head across your forehead. Record the measurement.

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Step 2

Mark an X in the center of the poster board. Place the edge of your ruler across the center of the X, and draw a vertical straight line directly below the X that measures 13 inches. This is the center length of your gnome's hat. It may need to be lengthened depending on your hat width.

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Step 3

Draw lines on each side of the X that create a 45-degree upside-down V shape. Extend the lines downward to the end of the poster board. These lines represent the seam of the hat, and will help you determine the right hat width.

Step 4

Determine your hat width. Measure across the upside-down V until you locate your approximate head circumference measurement plus 1 inch.

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Step 5

Draw an upside-down arched line to connect the two outside lines. The pattern should now look something like an upside-down snow cone.

Step 6

Cut out the pattern and lay it on top of the felt. Pin it in place.

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Step 7

Cut out the felt and fold it in half so that the long edges are touching. Sew the edges together with a 5/8-inch seam.

Step 8

Turn the hat right side out.

Easy Gnome Beard

Step 1

Cut a 5-inch oval from white felt to create a foundation piece for the beard and mustache.

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Step 2

Fold the oval in half lengthwise and cut a small piece out of the center for the mouth.

Step 3

Measure your head from the sides of your mouth and around the back of your head. Cut a length of skinny elastic that is equal to that measurement.

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Step 4

Create the basic mask. Sew one end of the elastic to the short edge of the white felt. Sew the other end of the elastic to the opposite side.

Step 5

Add a drop of hot glue over each sewed end and let it cool.

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Step 6

Hot glue strips of cotton batting below the center mouth cutout. Layer the batting from the bottom of the felt base upwards for a natural-looking beard.

Step 7

Add the mustache batting after the beard section is completed. Allow the mustache to fall down the sides of the piece and onto the beard.

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references & resources