Everyone who knows me knows that popcorn is my favorite food. I have it most nights after the kids are in bed, so dressing up as popcorn has been on costume short list for years. This year I finally made it happen with the DIY Popcorn Costume!
I hope you like this DIY Popcorn Costume tutorial, which will show how to make this costume, and can also be applied to making any knit pencil skirt built to fit your body.

DIY Popcorn Costume Supplies:
1+ yard of red + white stripe knit fabric
4 packs of pastel tissue paper from the dollar store
1 pack of white tissue paper
Mini Safety pins
White V neck shirt
DIY Popcorn Costume Skirt:
Measure Twice – Cut Once
Begin the DIY Popcorn Costume by taking your measurements and cutting your fabric.
Measure your hips and subtract 3”. For me, that is 43”-3”= 40”. Then divide that number by 2= 20” is the width of your rectangles.
Now measure your waist to you knee and add 7”. For me that was 18”+7”=25” long for my rectangle.
Next, cut 2 identical rectangles out of your knit skirt fabric, according to the measurements you took. So mine was 25” long x 20” wide. Be sure you arrange your fabric in the correct direction, for this popcorn skirt that is with vertical stripes!
Now, lay your 2 identical rectangles on top of each other and taper in the waist and the knees. I drew a line on my fabric 1” into the material and 6” down, and matched that angle on all 4 corners.

Stitching the DIY Popcorn Costume Skirt
Now sew the sides of your skirt using a stretch stitch or a serger. I used a zig zag stitch at a length of 2.5. Don’t push or pull your material through the machine, let it feed the fabric through for best results with knits!
Creating the DIY Popcorn Costume Waistband
Fit the elastic comfortably around your waist and cut elastic to size. Instead of sewing a casing, you are just going to sew the elastic directly to the top of the skirt. Pull the elastic very slightly as you go, using a zig zag or overcast stitch. You will be sewing the elastic to the interior side of the skirt, about ⅛” from the edge. Be sure you do not pull on the fabric, just the elastic. Once you’ve sewn the elastic all the way around, overlap the ends of the elastic and sew those together vertically. Trim excess.

Fold the waistband over to cover the elastic and sew just the side seams, or around the waistband, depending on what style you’re going for. I just tacked my side seams
Hemming The DIY Popcorn Costume
I used fusible hem tape so I wouldn’t have a stitch line crossing the vertical stripes. First, try on the skirt to determine how much you want to fold it up to hit your optimal length. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions to apply the tape and take care not to stretch the fabric.

Now for the DIY Popcorn Costume top!
Begin with a white V-neck shirt that fits you. I really recommend V-neck because the visual weight of all the popcorn needs the space of the V-neck to balance.
Next, cut your tissue paper in quarters, then round each corner with scissors.

Pull the tissue into a popcorn, or flower type shape, and secure with a clear hair elastic. Make many of these “kernels!” Sit down with a show and recruit your family to help! I made about ⅔ yellow and ⅓ white, but you can choose your color preference.

Now use mini safety pins and pin all your whites on first, separating them out all over your tee shirt. Next, attach the yellow. Try on your shirt to see how it is filling in and where you have gaps.

DIY Popcorn Costume Accessories
You can use any leftover popcorns to attatch to a headband or clip like i did!
I think the red lipstick really finishes off the costume! Be sure to find red lipstick before Halloween night!
If you enjoyed this tutorial, come peruse our Peek-a-Boo Pages Costume Tutorial section.
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One Response
This looks great! Thanks for sharing!