Autumn is the easiest season to sew a costume around, because half the materials are already in your closet. A flannel shirt, a knit dress, a pair of overalls and some sturdy boots give you the base, and felt leaves, a headpiece and a little earthy makeup do the rest. I lean on felt for nearly all of these: it doesn't fray, it cuts cleanly with sharp scissors, and it can be pinned on for one night or stitched for keeps. The thirty ideas below cover pumpkins, woodland animals, harvest treats and even the weather, and each one notes the clothing, the made pieces and the shoes that keep you comfortable at a school party, a fall festival or a night of trick-or-treating.
Felt Leaves, Glue and What Actually Stays Attached
Most autumn costumes come down to attaching a lot of small shapes to ordinary clothes. How you attach them decides whether the costume survives a night of hugs, car seats and candy bags.
Pick the right felt
Thin craft felt is cheap and fine for leaves that only need to last a night, but it pills and tears at the edges. Wool-blend felt costs more and cuts with a cleaner edge, so I use it for anything that gets handled, such as tails, ears and crowns. Cut with sharp fabric scissors; dull ones chew felt into fuzzy edges.
Pins, glue or stitches
- Safety pins from the inside work best when the base is a sweater or dress you want back untouched.
- Fabric glue holds felt to felt well, but it soaks through thin knits and tulle and dries stiff. Let it cure overnight before wearing.
- Hot glue is quick on headbands and foam, but it lets go in cold air and on stretchy fabric, so I never trust it for anything on a sleeve or a waistband.
- A few hand stitches through the center of each leaf beat all of the above for a costume you'll wear again.
Whatever you use, put the costume on and sit down, raise your arms and bend over once before you leave the house. Anything that pops off in the hallway will be gone by the second street.
1. Autumn Leaf Fairy Costume
For the leaf fairy, start with a rust midi dress, or a brown top over a layered orange tulle skirt. Fabric maple leaves go around the neckline, waist and skirt. I'd pin them on with small safety pins from the inside, because fabric glue soaks through tulle and leaves stiff patches. Lightweight wings covered in sheer gold fabric and a few faux leaves finish the back. Loose waves or a braided crown with tiny berries and greenery, copper eyeshadow and a little gold shimmer give the woodland face. A twig wand wrapped in ribbon, burgundy tights and brown lace-up boots keep the palette warm from top to toe.
2. Classic Scarecrow Costume
The scarecrow is the costume I'd hand anyone with an hour and a closet. Overalls over a red, orange or mustard plaid shirt, with colorful patches sewn or pinned onto the knees and pockets. Raffia at the cuffs sheds constantly, so tuck short bundles inside the sleeve and stitch them through once rather than gluing them to the outside. Two braids or a messy low ponytail under a floppy straw hat, brown eyeliner stitches across the cheeks and nose, and peach blush. A small fabric crow on one shoulder and a bundle of faux wheat are the props, with thick socks and flat work boots underneath.
3. Pumpkin Patch Queen Costume
An orange velvet or jersey dress with a softly gathered skirt is the base for the pumpkin patch queen. Define the waist with a green sash twisted into curling vines and scatter a few felt leaves around the shoulders and hem. The crown is green craft foam with artificial leaves and miniature foam pumpkins. Craft foam bends without heat, but it creases if you fold it, so curve it gently around a jar before gluing the ends. Loose curls or a copper wig, bronze eyes and a tiny painted vine at one temple. Carry a light pumpkin basket, and finish with green tights and brown ankle boots.
4. Autumn Tree Costume
The tree is all about the canopy. Wear a brown turtleneck with matching leggings, trousers or a long skirt for the trunk, then attach red, gold, orange and burgundy leaves across the shoulders, sleeves and chest. A cape covered in more leaves gives a fuller crown, and it's the part I'd put the most work into, because a short cape lets you sit down and a long one gets stepped on. Hair in a high textured style, or a brown wig with a branch headpiece. Bronze and green eyeshadow with a few bark lines in brown face makeup suit it. A tiny craft nest is the prop, and flat brown boots keep the trunk going all the way down.
5. Woodland Fox Costume
The fox is cozy clothing with three animal details. A burnt-orange sweater dress, or an orange top with a rust skirt, then a white faux-fur panel at the chest and a soft orange tail with a white tip. Faux fur sheds everywhere when you cut it with scissors; cut from the back with a craft knife, snipping only the backing, and the pile stays intact. A padded ear headband explains the look without a mask. Keep hair down or in a low bun so the ears show, and draw a small black nose with whisker dots. Opaque brown tights and low ankle boots make it walkable for adults, teens and older kids.
6. Cute Acorn Costume
The acorn depends on a rounded shape. Wear a warm brown sweater with a tan bubble skirt or a gathered tunic. Overlapping scales cut from dark-brown felt go on a cropped capelet, plus a matching felt cap with a short padded stem. I cut the scales as small scallops and stitch them in rows from the bottom up, the way you'd lay roof shingles, so each row hides the stitching of the last. A smooth bun or tucked hair helps the cap sit. A few painted leaves near one cheek and an oak branch prop with fabric leaves are enough, with brown leggings and flat ankle boots.
7. Red Maple Leaf Costume
One clear shape and one strong color make the maple leaf work. Start with a red long-sleeve dress, jumpsuit, or top and leggings, then wear a lightweight cape cut into the pointed leaf outline with dark-red lines for the veins. A narrow brown belt stands in for the stem. Cut the cape from felt or fleece rather than woven fabric; the leaf points stay sharp because neither one frays. A sleek ponytail or loose waves with copper leaf clips, burgundy eyeshadow and a red lip. A leaf-shaped bag or wand, opaque red tights and brown knee-high boots read clearly from front and back.
8. Sunflower Harvest Costume
The sunflower is cheerful enough for a daytime event. Wear a mustard dress, or a yellow blouse tucked into a brown midi skirt, with a wide green sash and a few felt leaves along the waist. The headpiece is the costume: yellow felt petals arranged around a comfortable brown headband. Petals flop by the end of the night unless you stiffen them, so I iron a light fusible interfacing to the back of each one before cutting. Braids or a low ponytail keep the flower visible, with golden eyes and painted freckles. A small watering can, green tights for the stem and brown lace-up boots finish it.
9. Apple Orchard Picker Costume
The orchard picker is mostly clothes you already own. Denim overalls over a red plaid shirt with neatly rolled sleeves, a red bandana at the neck and a straw hat trimmed with small artificial apples and green leaves. Plastic apples are heavy enough to tip a straw brim, so I use two or three small ones and stitch them through the hat band rather than the brim. Low braids or tousled hair, rosy cheeks, light freckles and a soft red lip. A basket of foam apples makes the theme obvious, and red socks above brown work boots tie in the shirt. On a cold evening, a thin cardigan goes under the overalls.
10. Pumpkin Spice Latte Costume
The pumpkin spice latte is a joke costume that people get right away. Wear a tan sweater dress, or a cream top with a caramel skirt, and wrap a wide brown felt sleeve around the waist with a hand-drawn pumpkin, not a brand logo. White tulle bunched around the shoulders is the whipped topping. I gather the tulle onto a strip of ribbon first and then tack the ribbon to the neckline, which is much easier than trying to sew loose tulle to a knit. A headband with a cinnamon stick and a tiny foam pumpkin, cinnamon eyeshadow and peach lipstick. Carry a big reusable cup, and add cream tights with tan ankle boots.
11. Caramel Apple Costume
Start the caramel apple with a red skater dress, a jumpsuit, or a red top and full skirt. A tan felt panel cut with a wavy drip edge goes around the neckline or waist for the caramel coat, and small brown and cream felt circles stand in for chopped nuts. The stick is a brown cylinder on a headband. A paper towel tube wrapped in brown felt is light enough to stay upright, while anything solid will lean. Soft curls or a high ponytail underneath, red blush and golden eyeshadow. A small tray with a foam apple, red tights and caramel boots finish the treat.
12. Corn On The Cob Costume
Corn on the cob is bold and easy to place, which makes it a good school-party choice. Wear a yellow sweatshirt dress, or a yellow shirt with matching trousers, and cover the front in rows of soft yellow felt circles for the kernels. Rows of circles take a long time to sew, so I glue them to one felt panel first and then stitch only the panel's edge to the shirt. Large green felt husk leaves run down the sides, leaving the arms free and the hem clear of your shoes. A yellow yarn wig or braided pigtails make the silk. Green leggings and green sneakers or rain boots finish the cob.
13. Autumn Mushroom Fairy Costume
The mushroom fairy lives in cream, rust and brown. Pair a cream blouse with a layered brown or burnt-orange skirt and a corset-style belt at the waist. The rust-red cap hat is the main make, with cream felt spots. A soft cap collapses on your head, so I sew it over a circle of craft foam or a cheap sun-hat brim. Small translucent wings with leaf patterns add the fairy part. Tousled waves or a short curly wig, rosy cheeks and a few white freckles. Carry a battery lantern or a basket of fabric mushrooms, with cream tights and brown boots.
14. Forest Deer Costume
Soft neutrals give the deer a quiet, grown-up feel. Wear a tan sweater dress, a brown jumpsuit, or a fitted top with a matching skirt, then add a white faux-fur chest panel and a small padded tail. The headband carries rounded ears, felt antlers and a few tiny leaves. Felt antlers droop under their own weight, so stuff them lightly with fiberfill or slip a pipe cleaner down each tine before closing the seam. Tan and cream face makeup around the eyes, a dark nose and white spots across the forehead and cheeks. A little basket of acorns, brown tights and flat suede-look boots finish her.
15. Harvest Witch Costume
A harvest witch is a family-friendly witch, more seasonal than scary. Choose a long rust, olive or plum dress with flowing sleeves, then a brown belt and a short plaid cape. Decorate a wide-brim pointed hat with artificial leaves, mini pumpkins, berries and wheat. I wire the trim to the hat band with thin florist wire rather than gluing it to the brim, because glue on a floppy brim cracks the first time the hat bends. Loose waves or a copper wig, bronze eyes and berry lipstick. Make the twig broom light, and add striped tights in muted autumn shades with brown buckled boots.
16. Cozy Fall Gnome Costume
Layers of knit make the gnome a real cold-weather costume. Start with an oversized mustard, burgundy or forest-green sweater over leggings, then a felt belt and a short brown vest. The tall pointed hat is rust fleece. Fleece is the right choice here because it stretches over your head and stays warm, but a tall cone falls over unless you stuff the tip lightly. Tuck your hair under, or let two yarn braids hang beside the face. Rosy cheeks and a pink nose do the makeup. Striped socks with clogs or flat boots finish it, and a soft beard is optional; the hat tells people what you are.
17. Rainy Autumn Cloud Costume
The rain cloud is the one costume here that welcomes bad weather. A pale-gray sweatshirt dress or a gray top and trousers is the base, with clusters of white and gray quilt batting across the shoulders. Keep the batting away from your face, because loose fibers end up in eyes and mouths. Blue ribbon raindrops and felt leaves hang from the cape's lower edge, and a silver headband carries small cloud shapes. Hair in a high ponytail or sleek bun, cool gray eyeshadow and painted raindrops at one temple. A clear umbrella with removable felt leaves, blue tights and silver rain boots make it practical when it pours.
18. Fall Rainbow Costume
The fall rainbow swaps spring brights for burgundy, pumpkin, mustard, olive, teal and plum. Wear a striped dress or build the bands from a sweater, skirt, tights and belt. An arched felt cape shows every shade across the back. I'd cut the arch as separate felt strips and overlap each one by a finger's width, which is easier than cutting one huge curved panel and much easier to fix if a color looks wrong. Ribbons in a high bun or warm-toned braids, several eyeshadow colors and a simple face otherwise. A small cloud bag, burgundy ankle boots and a cream cardigan for warmth.
19. Autumn Campfire Costume
The campfire is made entirely of soft materials, and it should stay that way. A brown long-sleeve top and trousers form the base, with pointed red, orange and yellow felt flames layered around the torso and kept short for movement. A belt with lightweight foam logs frames the fire. Stack the flame colors darkest at the bottom and yellow on top; that order is what makes felt read as fire from across a room. A high ponytail with red and orange ribbons and copper eyeshadow. A battery lantern or a soft marshmallow-on-a-stick prop, brown boots and dark-red gloves. Skip real wood, sharp sticks or any light that gets hot.
20. S’more Costume
The s'more is funny at a bonfire and easy to turn into a group costume. Wear a cream sweater dress or cream separates for the marshmallow, then add two square tan foam panels front and back with dotted brown lines for the crackers. A dark-brown sash or fabric panel is the chocolate. Foam panels rub at the armpits, so I cut the top corners off at an angle and join the panels at the shoulders with wide ribbon rather than tight straps. A smooth bun with a little toasted-marshmallow headband, cocoa eyeshadow and rosy cheeks. Carry a soft roasting stick of cardboard and fabric, with cream tights and tan sneakers.
21. Autumn Owl Costume
Felt feathers give the owl movement without heavy wings. Begin with a brown sweater and a tan skirt, dress or jumpsuit. Overlapping felt feathers in rust, cream, gold and dark brown go across a lightweight cape cut wide enough to spread like wings while your hands stay free. I sew feathers on in rows from the hem up, stitching only the top edge of each, so they lift a little when you move. A headband with round owl eyes and small ear tufts, bronze eye makeup winged outward and a gold triangle on the nose. Brown tights and flat boots suit adults and kids alike.
22. Woodland Hedgehog Costume
The hedgehog suits almost any age. Wear a tan hoodie, sweater dress or long-sleeve shirt with matching leggings, then build the back from layers of pointed brown felt on a light vest or cape. Mixing chocolate, caramel and rust spines adds depth. A hoodie is my favorite base for kids: sew the spines straight onto the hood and back and you've got a costume that goes on in five seconds. Small round ears on a headband, a brown nose and a few whisker dots. A basket of fabric apples and mushrooms, brown sneakers, and cream mittens for paws on a cold night.
23. Autumn Squirrel Costume
The squirrel is all tail. Wear a rust sweater dress or a brown top and trousers, add a cream chest panel, then a big curved faux-fur tail fixed to the waist. A tail that hangs straight down looks like a fox; to get the squirrel curve, I sew a length of thick wire or a bent pool noodle offcut inside it and anchor it to a wide belt so it doesn't drag the waistband down. A headband with small ears and an acorn, copper eye makeup and a tiny brown nose. Carry a foam acorn, and wear brown tights with flat rust boots for long walks.
24. Harvest Crow Costume
The crow is the one dark costume in an orange list. Wear a black long-sleeve dress, a jumpsuit, or a sweater with wide-leg trousers, and add a feather-shaped cape of overlapping black and charcoal felt. Real loose feathers shed on every couch you sit on; felt gives the same outline and stays put. A few rust and gold leaves on one shoulder connect the bird to harvest. A sleek black wig or high ponytail with a small beak headband, charcoal eyeshadow and a touch of gold at the inner corners. Faux wheat or a tiny stuffed scarecrow as the prop, black tights and flat lace-up boots.
25. Monarch Butterfly Costume
Orange and black make the monarch feel at home in autumn. A black bodysuit, long-sleeve dress or top with black leggings is the base, with large orange fabric wings outlined in black and dotted with white. Buy or build the wings on shoulder straps so they stay open without being held. If you're making them, a wire frame covered in nylon or organza is light, and black fabric paint for the veins dries flexible. Hair in a smooth bun under a black antenna headband, orange eyeshadow, fine liner and tiny white dots. Black ankle boots and orange leg warmers keep the legs warm without fighting the wings.
26. Harvest Moon Costume
The harvest moon has a little sparkle. Begin with a golden-yellow velvet dress, jumpsuit or top and skirt, then a circular moon back piece made of light gold fabric stretched over a flexible frame. A hula hoop is a ready-made frame, though a full hoop is wide for doorways, so a smaller embroidery hoop or wire ring is easier indoors. Copper leaves and metallic stars at the waist and shoulders tie in the season. A braided crown or a golden wig, luminous gold eyeshadow and tiny stars at the temples. A crescent bag or a cool battery lantern, gold tights and flat boots finish it.
27. Autumn Bookworm Costume
The bookworm is a pun costume, and it's one of the most comfortable here. An olive cardigan over a mustard shirt with rust trousers or a plaid midi skirt is the base. The worm tail is a row of green felt circles, lightly stuffed and joined in a chain down the back, ending well above the floor so nobody steps on it. A headband with round antennae and a few leaves makes the joke clear. Braids or a neat bun, freckles and brown liner. Faux books tied with orange ribbon, or a hollow book box as a bag, plus patterned socks and loafers.
28. Fall Picnic Basket Costume
The picnic basket turns gingham and fruit into a wearable joke. Start with a red-and-cream gingham dress, or a blouse with a full brown skirt. The basket is a foam-board frame around the waist covered in printed basket-weave paper. Foam board snaps if you bend it, so I score it on the inside every few inches and let it curve in sections. Artificial apples, fabric leaves, napkins and a soft bread prop line the rim. Braids or curls under a red headband, rosy blush and freckles. A small thermos or a rolled picnic blanket, cream tights and brown ankle boots, with a fitted cardigan that doesn't hide the basket.
29. Colorful Turkey Costume
The turkey lives or dies on its tail fan. Wear a brown sweater dress, jumpsuit, or top and leggings, then build a fan of felt feathers in rust, mustard, burgundy, green and orange on a comfortable waist belt. A felt fan wilts sideways unless it has a backing, so I glue the feathers onto a half-circle of stiff felt or thin foam first. Small wings at the sleeves and a headband with a soft turkey face. Hair high so the headpiece shows, warm bronze makeup and an orange triangle on the nose. A basket of decorative corn, brown tights and orange sneakers.
30. Mother Nature Autumn Costume
Mother Nature gathers the season's details into one costume. A flowing olive, brown or rust maxi dress is the base, with a cape covered in fabric leaves, small flowers, berries, acorns and moss-like trim. The crown is flexible branches, artificial foliage and mini pumpkins. Heavy decoration is where these costumes fail, so I sew the cape trim onto a lightweight fabric base instead of piling it straight on the dress, and keep the crown's weight centered over the ears. Long waves or a side braid woven with leaves, green and bronze eyeshadow and a painted vine at one temple. A cardboard staff, brown boots and fingerless green gloves finish her.
When the Festival Turns Cold and Wet
Autumn costumes are usually worn outdoors, and October nights can swing from mild to cold and wet in an afternoon. A few habits keep a felt-and-fleece costume wearable when the weather turns.
- Build the warmth into the base layer. Thermal leggings and a thin long-sleeve top go under almost every costume here without changing how it looks.
- Wet felt sags and the colors can bleed onto light fabric, so keep red and orange felt away from cream panels if rain is likely, or test a damp scrap first.
- Cardboard and foam-board pieces soften in rain. Seal them with a coat of clear acrylic or packing tape on the back, and carry a bag to stow them in.
- Rain boots in a matching color are a fair swap for the boots suggested in most of these looks.
- Paper-based props, such as the latte sleeve or the picnic basket, are worth making in felt instead if you know you'll be outside.
For kids, check that capes, tails and wings still leave room for a coat zipped underneath or over the top. A costume that only works without a coat ends up hidden under one anyway.
Start With a Sweater and a Square of Felt
Every costume in this list starts with something soft you already own: a sweater, a dress, a jumpsuit or a pair of overalls. The character comes from a few made pieces on top, usually a felt headpiece, a cape or a tail, plus makeup and shoes you can walk in. If you're short on time, pick one made element and put your effort there. For school or a festival, the scarecrow, corn and orchard picker go together fastest; for a cold night outside, the gnome and the rain cloud are the warmest; and for a group, the s'more and the caramel apple make a funny pair.
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