We are a Minions household. Little J lives and breathes Minions so clearly he is going to be a Minion for Halloween. Miss O, being the awesome big sister that she is, decided she wanted to be the fluffy unicorn from the Despicable Me movies. This is Agnes’ loyal stuffed toy in the films. Now you might think I would just run out and buy a unicorn costume but no, she wanted her costume to look just like the unicorn from the movie. Enter Super Mom to the rescue.

This costume was not simple to make. Perhaps I went about it the hard way. So I’m here to tell you what drove me nutty making this costume and how I think it would have been much simpler. I’m known for doing things the hard way so you don’t have to!

First off, finding white clothing for a size 5 child is difficult. I can appreciate why no one makes white clothing for toddlers but there had to be a way. My mom found some white leggings for $5 in the US at Kohl’s. I knew I needed a zip-up hoodie as Miss O isn’t a fan of pulling a big full sweatshirt over her head but either style would work. I went to a warehouse sale near my house in the summer and happened to spot a random fluffy white zip-up hoodie in a bin. Of course it was the only one, two sizes too big and the zipper pull was broken. I knew I could find a way to make it work and I got it for only $2!

Next up was the pink fluffy part. I knew that hot pink faux fur was the way to go. I didn’t have much success finding that but I did find fun fur trim. It was perfect and required far less cutting. There was 3 yards of 3″ wide faux fur for $2. Everything was coming up Milhouse!

This was how I felt before I started working with faux fur for the first time. My advice is this: muster up your patience and be sure to follow my pointers to save your sanity. I used a strip of fur from the front of the hood to the seam at the back (see photo below for a better idea), on the cuff of each sweater and on the bottom of each pant leg. As the sweater was much too big, I simply cut off the excess fabric on the sleeves as I knew I would be covering them with the fur trim.

The first and golden rule with faux fur is to cut it outside! No matter how careful you try to be, you will make a mess of hot pink fur. So at the very least, cut it somewhere you won’t be bothered to find fluffs of hot pink for the next month.

The second trick with faux fur is to cut from the back. You do not want to cut through the fur or you will leave bald spots. Use an exacto knife to cut the mesh layer at the back. After you have cut, shake and shake that fabric! Get out any loose fluff.

I opted to sew on the strips of fur and that’s a decision I regret! If you have the patience and knowledge to work with faux fur on your sewing machine then have at it! There are many exciting things to do and tutorials available online. In hindsight, I wish I had worked with a glue designed for fabric such as Speed-Sew. I did have to hand-sew a few areas and this was easier than working with the sewing machine but still required time and patience.

The fluffy unicorn has a gold horn. I was hoping to use a store-bought one but had difficulty finding one. I opted to use yellow felt and wrap gold cord around it. To do this, you simply cut out a cone shape but cut the top tip off to make a straight edge – this will make a nicer point on the horn. You can either hot glue or hand sew the seam then flip it inside out to have a nice cone shape. Before you stuff it with batting, use your gold cording or embroidery floss, tie a knot at the end and thread it through the top using a needle. Once stuffed, trim the bottom of the cone so it has a straight edge and sew it shut. Next, wrap the cord tightly around the horn and attach at the bottom.

The ears are made from white and pink felt that I just eyeballed and cut out by hand. I hot glued the pink to the white then pinched the bottom centre of each ear together and added a dot of hot glue to hold together. I took the time to hand-sew the horn and ears onto the hood. As you can see, the horn is off to the side but I think it adds a bit of homemade charm!

The tail is repurposed from Miss O’s Pinkie Pie My Little Pony costume from last year. It has a clip which didn’t attach well to the centre of the sweater so I simply put in two safety pins to attach the clip to. If you don’t have a tail already on hand, you could use a piece of the faux fur trim, yarn, or fleece to craft up a tail.

It was a labour of love but I’m very happy with the end result of this costume. This project is best suited to someone who enjoys crafting with a variety of mediums or at the very least, a sewist, not a first-time crafter.