DIY Bird Costume *guest article*

One of the most creative role-playing games is probably dressing up. It is creativity, fantasy and freedom in a protected and sheltered fantasy world. By dressing up, our children have the opportunity to try their hand at different roles. The free role play is a wonderful accompaniment to one's own self.

Besides cloths and old clothes, I sew and make costumes with my children all year round. One thing is especially loved by children: the bird costume. The idea to fly freely like a bird is something wonderful and conveys a feeling of freedom. That's why I'm especially happy to flutter into your children's room together with Affenzahn.

Our dear Ann-Kathrin from Rock My Day is well known for her great DIY projects and immediately excited us when we first came across her blog. She mainly works with sustainable and natural materials and it feels like she is one step ahead every time when it comes to developing beautiful and child-friendly accessories and game ideas.

You surely know her from hers or our blog, where she has already realized many wonderful DIY projects for us. In the last year she has, among other things, created the matching Pendant for the large unicorn backpack. Here follows the step by step instruction for a bird costume suitable for the carnival season to match our beautiful Affenzahn Bird.

What you'll need:

• Fleece, wool knit or coat fabric in two different colours for the feathers and the cape, as well as a little yellow fabric for the beak.
• A piece of string or ribbon
• Scissors
• If no sewing machine available, needle and thread

Fleece and coat fabric have the advantage that you do not have to clean the cut edges and are therefore also very suitable for sewing with needle and thread.

Step 1

Print out the pattern and use the cutting pattern to cut all parts with an additional 1 cm seam allowance.

The patterns you need: - 1 x Cape - 2 x hood part - 2 x beak - 2 x head feathers - 17 x feathers size 1 - 17 x feathers size 2 - 17 x feathers size 3 - 13 x feathers size 4 - 13 x feathers size 5

Steps 2-5

• Quilt the two head feather parts and the two beak pieces at the upper edge together. Leave the lateral and lower edges of the beak open.
• Now sew the two hood parts together, topstitching the head feathers as well.
• Then pin the hood to the neckline of the cape and topstitch with the straight stitch of the sewing machine.
• Finally sew the feathers according to their size on the cape row by row. Start with the largest at the bottom and end with the smallest at the neckline. Finish by sewing a ribbon or string on both sides of the neckline and there you have the bird costume in the look of the Affenzahn bird.

I wish you lots of fun with sewing the cape and hope that your kid is going to have a lot of fun with dressing up!