I created this fun Toddler Firefighter costume using a Butterick sewing pattern. Read how I created my own fabric that was perfect for this firefighter costume!
My son asked to be a firefighter this year for Halloween. I thought about buying the costume, there are so many cute firefighter costumes out there but I love making my kids’ costumes so I decided to go ahead and my own toddler firefighter costume.
I found a great pattern at Joann Fabrics, Butterick Pattern 3244, that even included the firefighter boots! The trickiest part was finding the right fabric. The pattern called for vinyl felt, which I couldn’t find. Our local Joann’s had regular felt as well as utility fabric, which had a nice plastic, waterproof look. Each of these fabrics alone wouldn’t have worked as the utility fabric was very thin and see-through and the felt didn’t have the right look. I decided to layer the fabrics together and was really happy with how it turned out.
Layering the fabrics, or flat-lining, added a few extra steps. I had to sew the two layers together for each piece before sewing the costume together – for all of the yellow and black parts. I also had to add seam allowance to all of the black stripe pieces so I could fold under their edges and no raw edges were visible. The utility fabric I was using frayed like crazy so this was definitely necessary! The pattern, which called for the vinyl felt, assumed you could cut the strips of black fabric with raw edges showing.
Below you can see the two front pieces of the jacket – one showing the utility fabric side, the other showing the felt side.
Even with the extra steps it took to create, I was happy I made the costume! I really love sewing for my kids and Halloween costumes are so much fun! I think this costume will be great for everyday dress-up fun!
I finished the costume with a black firefighter hat from Party City and a firefighter badge I found on Amazon! :)
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