Austin Bat Costumes

Last night as the sun went down….bats were spotted in downtown Austin, hanging out under the Congress bridge.
Whether looking for food, flowers,
or just plain having fun….One thing is certain.
They’re the cutest little bats I’ve ever seen.
and they take their job pretty seriously.
They wait patiently all day, for just the right moment.
When dusk meets the bridge.
and someone yells GO!
Then they fly off in millions, into the sunset, leaving thousands of spectators behind them.
They’re the Austin City Bats.

I promise, I don’t have an obsession for bats…though I did always love the original Michael Keaton Batman. And Christian Bale and Christopher Nolan really took it over the top with The Dark Knight. Fabulous film. And…we do have bats all over our living room wall…and on a pillow.
But hey, we live in the city of bats!
If there was ever a year when the kids couldn’t decide what they wanted to be (Owen mentioned a red cherry from Sonic? And Lucy kept talking about Mother Gothel again. No)…well, this was the time to do it.

I actually spotted the kids playing ‘bats” in the house last month and it just all came together.
The costumes were pretty easy to make. Black clothes, wings, and a hat.

The wings are made of black felt and lined with poly satin. Measure the length of your kids arm-span and make it a few inches longer than that. Fold the fabric in half as you cut for symmetrical wings:
I used contrasting thread and double-stitching to give dimension to the wings and then sewed four arm straps to the wings, with velcro attachments (try them on as you go along to make sure you’re placing straps in the proper place). Then sew a small piece of elastic to the wing-tip for their middle finger to link on to.
The hats took me a bit to figure out but then they came together fairly quickly.
Cut a hat shape similar to the image below. I actually held the felt up to Owen’s head and sort of traced the curve of his head. For the ears, cut a shape similar to the pattern below, on the fold.
You want to cut black felt pieces and satin lining pieces for both the hat and the ears.
Sew the satin and felt pieces with right sides together, turn them right-side out, and then bring the ends of the ears together and pin them onto the hat. Use your machine (and strength of two hands) to carefully sew the ears in place. Sew them in a few spots to make the ears open a bit on the hat.
And you’re set!
Simple little bat costume!
Ready to dart into the night.
Thank you Austin for sharing your sights, music, yummy food, people, and amazing bats with us.
We love living here.

  1. 2) Natalie

    Thank you for this cute idea. I really like simple, classic Halloween costumes, so this is perfect!

  2. 3) LeeAnne

    I’ve loved this idea since I first saw this post last Halloween! I’m in the process of making this for my 2.5 year old son now šŸ™‚

  3. 4) Suzanne

    Better than Martha! Made these for my 5 and 3 yr old,used purple lining, purple shoes for the girl and red lining red shoes for boy. Looks great!

  4. 5) Beckinstein

    I have what I’m sure is a really silly question, but I’m somewhat new to sewing.. So is the satin hemmed and then sewn onto the felt?

    I’ve got everything cut out but am a little lost on where to go next, thanks for any help!

    • 6) Christy

      You sew the pieces together inside out, but don’t sew all the way. Leave an opening so you can turn the cape (or wings) right side out. And voila, the raw ends are sewn to each other and hidden inside this would be sack.
      Some tips: before turning turning inside out, cut or snip the tips of the wings near the sewing line careful not to cut your thread (!). His way when you turn inside out and you push out all those little tips of the wings there isn’t fabric bunching in those tight spaces. Hope that helps.

      • 7) Beckinstein

        Thanks so much! I have one set of wings just about finished, all they need are the straps and elastic. šŸ™‚ So cute!

  5. 8) Lori

    WOW!! These are the perfect pattern I needed!! My 7 yr old decided, last week no less, that he wanted to be “Man-bat” from the Batman movie! Thank you for your pattern and idea–this is going to work perfectly!!!

  6. 9) teresa

    These are great….any chance you want to sell me 2 of these?? I am looking for bat costumes for my kids!

    • 10) Dana

      sorry, I don’t sell actual items, just the ideas. They weren’t hard to make though! Hopefully the info in the post can guide you along.

  7. 11) Crystal

    About how many yards did you use?

  8. Thank you for sharing! My son wants to be a bat for Halloween. I don’t know if I’ll line it as I bought thick black felt for the costume. You gave me some great ideas on how to create it and embellish it.

    He actually wants my husband and I to be bats too!

  9. Hi Dana,
    Great costumes and smart execution. I’m doing a set for my 6 year old daughter but changing it up a bit…sparkly knit fabric with felt sparkle “ribs”. Very cool.

  10. You can even see bats in Antwerp (Belgium) now… šŸ™‚ Thank you so much for this tutorial! When my daughter told me she wanted to be a bat for carnaval, I was kind of desperate, no idea how to get started. So happy I ended up here! Let the bats fly all over the world šŸ™‚

  11. 15) delphine

    Thanks for this tutorial!! It’s so nice to share. I just made two costumes: one for my 2 year’s old and one for my 4 year’s old for the school carnaval!
    There’re also bats in granada, spain!

  12. 16) Heather

    Love these costumes! I’m also new to sewing, so I’m wondering about the chin strap. Did you attach that after you cut out the hat? (Not seeing those instructions in the tutorial, but I may be missing something.) Thanks so much!

  13. I had forgotten until you reminded me that your kids were bats! We weren’t here yet, and I didn’t realize the significance:) I considered making something similar to what you did here for the boys, then decided to simplify it even more and just sew wings right onto the striped PJ’s I bought for their costumes! One and done, though they won’t have them as dress ups, just as fun pjs after Halloween. Anyway. Love these!

    xo

  14. 18) annalisa

    lovely lovely lovely.
    Thanks for your idea!

  15. 19) Dessie

    Hi there!

    I love this costume idea, thank you so much for posting! I just have a couple of questions. How much of each fabric did you use for one set? And do you have a pattern in pdf form that I could get access to? Thanks!

  16. 20) NatalIe

    Hi-
    My two boys have requested to be bats this year for Halloween. Is there any way you would be willing to make these for me for a charge? I am not very crafty and love your costume!
    Thanks

  17. 21) Krista

    Hi, I wondered if you make these for other people. My four almost 5 year old thinks this costume is “super cool”! Let me know. Thanks!

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