Spiders have always struck fear into the hearts of children and a handful of adults who have never outgrew the fear. Movie producers have capitalized on the fear of spiders, creating scary spider movies like “Arachnophobia” and “Eight-Legged Freaks.” In your case, you can bring that fear to new heights as you appear as a human-sized spider for the next costume party. Watch all the other attendants shriek their lungs out as they scamper whenever you come near them with your self-made spider costume.

The spider costume brings a new type of fear to the table when compared to the standard slew of scary costumes. As the existence of ghouls and monsters remain theoretical, the deadly sting of a large killer spider is very much real. No spider has grown to reach the size of a full-grown human, but not everyone knows that fact. Most of the time, the guests at a costume party will be too scared to even think of the facts when they see your costume.

Crawling Around Isn’t Hard

The spider costume seems complicated to create but the limbs are actually pretty easy to create since they are only made of tights stuffed with foam. As for the wide spider body, you only need an oversized and foam-filled sheet of cotton to do the job. If you have some sewing skills and a good dose of imagination, you should have no problems making your own spider costume.

Materials Used:

• 4 pairs of black tights
• black cotton sheet (5 x 5 ft)
• scissors
• sewing needle
• sewing thread – black
• foam stuffing (5 x 5 ft)
• pencil
• paper
• cardboard
• 2 large buttons
• paint
• paintbrush
• tape measure
• black kung-fu shoes

What Makes a Spider?

You can get a black and hairy cotton sheet and the foam stuffing from a textile shop. As for the sewing equipment, you can first check the available materials found inside your mom’s sewing kit. If you notice that you lack several items, you can go to a needlework store and purchase everything that you need. Proceed to a shoe store and grab a cheap pair of black kung-fu shoes for your costume’s required footwear. Your final stop is the clothing store where you will purchase several pairs of black tights for the six additional limbs of your spider costume and your bottom garment.

Weave a Web of Dimensions

Measure the length of your arms, head and torso to get the dimensions of your costume. The six extra legs of your spider costume should be just as long as your arms, while the measurement of your costume’s top should be at least a couple of inches longer than the length of your torso. Your head’s measurement will reflect the size of your costume’s head/hood. Once done with the measurements, sketch your spider costume on a piece of paper (the costume plan) along with its dimensions so that you will have a point of reference for the entire time that you will create your costume.

Six More Legs Coming Up

Look at your costume plan for the dimensions of your eight spider legs. Once you have the right measurements, cut the leg portions of your tights to create the eight sheets. Roll all eight sheets then sew their ends together. When all eight legs have been formed, stuff six of them with foam to make the six spider legs stand upright. Wear the remaining two legs through your arms to complete your costume’s set of hairy legs.

Along Came a Spider Torso

View your costume plan and take note of the dimensions of your torso. Cut a thin strip of foam that is about five inches longer than your torso. Arc the foam in the shape of a bell then wrap the bottom portion with cardboard. Sew the cardboard to the foam so that the bell shape holds up. Once done, cover the foam with the black cotton sheet. Sew the ends of the sheet together to close the torso area of your costume. Now, sew the six legs to the sides of your spider torso.

Itsy Bitsy Spider Head

The head of your spider costume will come in the form of a black cotton hood. Refer to your costume plan for the dimensions of your hood. Cut your cotton sheet to create the hood. Sew eight large buttons on the top portion of the hood for your costume’s scary spider eyes. Now, sew the hood by the head-opening of your spider torso.

Spiders in Tights

Wear the last pair of tights for your costume’s dark bottom garment. Match the tights with a pair of black kung-fu shoes. Make sure that your entire leg is covered because a little sign of flesh can wreck the overall effect of your costume.

At this point, you can wear your spider torso and head, and then proceed to the costume party. Crawl under the tables as you prepare to give the other attendants a very unpleasant surprise. You will be so scary that the other attendants will practically shy away from you even if you are not in costume.