DIY Pirate Costume - Easy And Awesome!

Make an easy homemade pirate costume for kids quickly, using three things: a few items from your closet, my free pirate accessories template, and the best: our free pirate vest pattern! Scroll down and get it now.

If your kid hasn't got a Halloween outfit yet and you're looking for pirate costume ideas, this tutorial will give you an idea for an easy homemade pirate outfit.

Why this pattern is perfect for Halloween

Either as Captain Jack Sparrow or Captain Hook, this free pirate vest pattern will work amazingly well - especially if you want a quick solution and a lovely Halloween pirate costume that you can make at home. The pattern consists of 3 pieces only, no hemming, and just a single button (here's how to sew a button) - or see how to add a snap.

The tutorial even includes links to skull and crossbones templates you can add to the costume as an applique.

If I can safely say that my daughter's diy tutu skirt doubles as her favorite Halloween costume, this post is about the all-time favorite pirate costume I made for my son when he was little.

Easy Homemade Pirate Costume For Kids

Ever since the day I sewed it, it's become a really popular piece of clothing for our kid's pretend play throughout the year. So I figured, why not post the idea! And probably help my readers to an easy diy pirate outfit. Now, let's get to the how-to.

Homemade pirate outfit instructions

Here's how to sew a simple pirate Halloween costume to send your kids trick or treating in.

Step 1 - Grab an old shirt

The first thing that I pulled out was an old white-red long-sleeve shirt from my 'recycle'-pile (actually any color would do). It is not useful for every-day life, but it will surely do for a pirate costume for kids.

Step 2 - Make a simple Pirate Vest (using my free pattern)

Grab some budget-friendly black felt on Amazon and off we go!

This is the focus of every good DIY pirate costume: the vest! I used soft black felt to cut out a simple vest. It has a snap fastener attached to the front. You could also use some velcro or even two small pieces of thin rope.

I added another white skull I cut out from craft foam to one side of the pirate vest. It's easy, especially if you use materials like fleece that do not need any hemming work. You may use your toddler's t-shirt as a guide for size. But it's even better if you make the vest a bit wider than you would usually. It's easier to put on, the pirate won't mind the comfort and he just might want to reuse it next year.

How to get the Free Pirate Vest Sewing Pattern

Join our mailing list and get the pattern emailed to you:

CURRENT SUBSCRIBERS: simply enter your email in the signup form above to re-download it. (You won't be signed up twice.)

Once you've received the template, visit the PIRATE VEST TUTORIAL and make your best pirate costume for your child.

Step 3 - Add Diy Pirate Outfit Accessories

Cut an Eyepatch and Skull - FREE TEMPLATE HERE

To complete the pirate costume, I used black foam for my pirate's eye patch. It's simple. Cut out a round-ish piece of craft foam and add the thinnest piece of elastics you find at home. Really, the thinner the better. As for the pirate pants - well, regular black pants will do just fine. The simpler the better, right?

Step 4 - Make a Pirate Hat

Use my free PDF template for pirate skull! I haven't got to publishing the free hat pattern, but it's coming soon! For now, I'll just describe how I made it, hopefully, this will do for the time being: 

See the hat in the photo below? It's that simple form  - resembling a toy car chassis (at least how I see it) Just cut out two of them and sew the top and the sides together. Make sure the bottom is wide enough. When finished, the bottom part of the hat needs to be several inches wider than the circumference of a child's head. What keeps it on the head is not the tight fit, it's the bumpy (central) part you see on the top of the hat. The sides should remain loose.

To make the hat, I started by cutting two random pieces of black fabric and just kept sewing and trimming until something resembling a pirate hat came out of the machine.

Honestly, it didn't look like a pirate hat at all - until I added a white skull I cut from craft foam. (Craft foam, you're a lifesaver!) The moment I finished, the doorbell rang, and our kid was off, already putting the homemade pirate hat to good use!

Another (pirate) boy was at the door, and a play date could begin. (And both the mom and the kid were happy!)

No Pirate Hat Template Yet?

What I did at the moment was trace the hat, add a ⅜" seam allowance, and save the template for later. It's still waiting for me to scan it and post it on my website for you!

So, this is the hat. If you feel like - and if you have a spare half-an hour, make a pirate pouch to store some gold foiled chocolate coins - perfect for little pirates! I used this coin purse pattern from our pattern shop.

Bonus Tip - Repurpose and reuse the costume

If you remove the white skulls after Halloween is over, the vest and the cap might even be reused for another costume next year. Tried and tested, this vest pattern is good as knight armor (or you can make this DIY knight vest instead), a ladybug base, and several other costumes.

How Much Time Do You Need to Make a Pirate Costume?

I finished it rather quickly. I only needed half an hour for the hat and half an hour for the vest - including trial and error! Now you've seen the photos, I bet you can make this even much faster than I did!

The story behind?

The idea for this homemade pirates costume came from our toddler, half an hour before a visit from a friend of his. He suddenly asked to be a pirate for that year's Mardi Gras carnival. We actually do not go out and celebrate on the streets. But kids, friends, and families visit each other the weekend before, all the kids dressed up in costumes.

At first, I intended to take the easy way out and talk our kid into using the baby frog costume from last year. To be honest, I was happy to get a last-minute chance to avoid it. It wouldn't be quite fair, would it? 🙂

More Halloween Ideas

If you need more, there are other diy Halloween ideas you might like:

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