DIY Bat/Demon Wings (easy sewing project for Halloween and beyond!)

A funny thing about the trajectory of my life is that, despite the fact that I have spent many years trying to do other “more important” things with my professional life, the unavoidable truth is that the overwhelming majority of my website traffic comes from a Halloween costume DIY tutorial that I posted in 2017.

And I don’t mean that this post gets a spike of traffic every fall leading up to Halloween costume time, I mean that this blog post has first page google results for EVERY relevant search term (first 5 results for several of them) year round.

Like, every single day multiple people read that blog post. For seven years. Dave Eggers’ editor told me in person that it was really good and funny. I reference it in job interviews as having “collaborated with a NYT bestselling children’s author” because… that’s technically not a lie NOW even though that wasn’t… really… true at the time.

But I digress.

My point with bringing all of this up is that I don’t think I can really avoid it any longer that the thing that I am best at and have had the most long-term success with is… DIY tutorial blog posts.

And as I find myself finally actually getting out of the severe burnout that I found myself in after an onslaught of personal crises that I should probably write a separate blog post about because it has no place inside a craft tutorial, I’m finding myself doing a lot more crafts.

Even… Doing elaborate Halloween costumes again.

I don’t think you, a stranger on the internet (or maybe a friend who made it here over from social media!) have any idea what a HUGE deal this is.

I mean, my kids and I did a WHOLE family DisneyBound as Hades, Pain and Panic from the Disney movie version of Hercules for our Oogie Boogie Bash night as well as Halloween.

AND LOOK AT HOW IT CAME OUT!!!!

(I legitimately had no idea that the Magic Key exclusive photo op was going to be Hercules themed, and almost cried when I saw it)

This may be the best thing I have made in a long time. I am SO back.

AND, because I can not and will not allow myself to make anything easy for myself, I designed and build the wings for the kids’ costumes.

Why?

Well first of all, we needed specific colors because Pain and Panic are… not colors that I could just get pre-made costume wings in.
Second, there’s a very specific shape that we were after, as well as keeping both the overall size and the wing size/child size proportions in line with the vision.
Third, since these wings needed to last through Oogie Boogie Bash (which takes place inside the theme park) AND at least one round of trick-or-treating (actually we went to a community trunk-or-treat event immediately after I finished them… the point is my kids’ Halloween costumes get some MILEAGE put on them), they needed to be sturdy enough to handle some wear and tear.
And finally, the wings needed to be comfortable AND stay in place AND have the right amount of movement.
But mainly I think it all boils down to a refusal to let anything be easy or straightforward.

Now I am happy to announce that these wings were a success on all fronts, and I took the time to document the process because these were so simple (only a few pieces and basic sewing machine skills), affordable (all of the materials for both pairs with plenty left over, plus some extra unrelated items came out to around $30 at Joann’s), and WAY more versatile than just this specific niche DisneyBound/Cosplay concept.

This same tutorial can be easily adapted to bat or devil wings just by changing the color, and if you got creative with the shapes, become bird, butterfly, or angel wings without adjusting the construction AT ALL.

Before we get started, here’s a quick rundown of the materials I used:

Extra-stiff Interfacing I bought a full yard because I needed two sets of wings and did not trust myself to get it right the first time (I am happy to announce that I did! And now I have a LOT of interfacing left that I’m not sure what to do with), so I think a more realistic quantity is about 1/3 yard per pair.
Fleece Fabric Literally I just got the cheapest “craft fleece” because these wings aren’t getting any significant wear and tear and they definitely aren’t going through the wash. But also, you could use felt if that’s more accessible for you. Again I got a full yard of each color because I didn't know how many attempts would need to be made, but 1/3 yard per pair is PLENTY, because unlike the interfacing which is one single, 22” wide layer, the fleece fabric is 60” wide.
Wide Elastic Ok so this isn’t the exact elastic I bought because I picked some from the by-the-yard section, but this is the closest I can find online. Most kids’ sizes are going to use around a yard (maybe a little more for older kids), for reference my kids’ two sets of wings used the 2.5 yards of elastic I bought EXACTLY.
Matching Thread Or, if you prefer, contrasting thread. There really aren’t any rules here (I used black thread throughout because I’m too lazy to change thread colors), but you DO need thread.
Pins You’ll be able to see in the step-by-step photos that I did NOT exclusively use my favorite kind of sewing pins (glass head pins that won’t melt if you iron over them), but I just thought now would be a good time to mention that glass head pins are my absolute favorite kind.
Scissors and Fabric shears For the love of all that is good and holy THESE ARE NOT THE SAME THING.
A Seam Ripper I would hope that you don’t have need of one but it is nice to have one on hand should the need arise, and definitely spend the money on a more ergonomic one because the flat ones that come in sewing kits are awful
Thread Snips I like using these to trim threads at the end rather than scissors? But scissors also work.
Pilot Frixion Gel Pen These are my favorite pens for marking on fabric because they erase COMPLETELY with a warm iron. However, an air soluble pen can work equally as well.
Ruler this specific size will be super helpful if you decide to make the tail.
Seam Gauge (optional) This is extremely optional for exactly one step but there’s a link in case you need one.
Paper or Cardstock I don’t really think you need a link for paper but you do need paper to draw your pattern pieces on and I didn’t like having all of the supplies as blue links except for the last one.

(note: I did use affiliate links wherever I could with the materials list, because those clicks and commissions are something that helps me to keep my bills paid as a full time self employed artist, you are by no means under any obligation to use them, and in the case of this tutorial, specific brands DO NOT MATTER, so if you already have something on hand, feel free to use that. That being said, if you have the time to even click the links and then not buy anything, that helps)

Ok, are you ready to get started? Let’s go!

Step One: Draw the desired wing shape that you want on a sheet of printer paper (this was just a little bit smaller than the paper, about 10 inches across at the widest point and 7 inches tall at the tallest point). The exact size and shape is up to you and your needs/preferences, and the only thing that’s important is that you extend the end that attaches to the center about 2” further than you want the wings themselves to go)

Step Two: Trace TWO of your wing shapes onto your interfacing

Step Three: Cut them out using your normal scissors because REMEMBER YOUR FABRIC SHEARS ARE ONLY FOR FABRIC (jk I actually don’t know if it’s bad to cut interfacing with fabric shears)

Step Four: Lay your interfacing pieces onto your fabric and trace around them with about a 1/4 inch margin all the way around. You can use a seam gauge to do this if you want to be really precise, but you really don’t have to. Cut out FOUR wings from your fabric. Also cut two rectangles that are about 5 inches wide by 6 inches tall and set those aside for step twelve.

Step five: For each wing, you’re going to need to make a sandwich that breaks all of the rules of sewing. Right side/wrong side doesn’t matter on most fleece and felt fabrics but in case you did something different, each stack is going to look like this:

first layer fabric wrong side UP
second layer Interfacing, centered in your fabric with an equal margin all the way around
third layer fabric wrong side DOWN directly on top of the other fabric, matching the edges exactly

(note: I used the same fabric for both sides so this doesn’t matter, but IF YOU DID make sure that your two wings are mirror images of each other and not identical!)

Anyway the stack should look like this:

Step six: Pin the stack securely all the way around, paying special attention to any sharp points

Step Seven: Sew all the way around the edges of the wing shape, very close to the edge of the fabric, so that the interfacing is caught in between the two layers of fabric.

Step eight: Using tailors chalk, an air-soluble pen, or a Pilot Frixion gel pen, mark any details lines on the WRONG side of your wings (if your wings are only one color like mine, then this is a time to pay close attention to making sure your wings are mirror images of each other.

Step nine: Sew over those lines with a straight stitch (if your markings need to be ironed off, do that now)

Step ten: Measure and cut your elastic by laying it snugly (but not stretched out) on your child wrapping from the top of their shoulder blade to the bottom of their shoulder blade, wrapping around the front of their body. Then cut two pieces of elastic that match this measurement.

Step eleven: This part is hard to explain, but bear with me please. Take each piece of elastic and match the corners of the ends at a right angle, being very careful not to twist the elastic, and to make sure that you have two kind of teardrop shaped loops (if your elastic has a right and wrong side this is another time to make sure that your two loops are mirror images of each other). Pin the ends together to form a sqare where they overlap). Then sew all the way around these squares with a three-step zigzag stitch.

After you sew them they should look like this:

Step Twelve: So far we’ve been making our individual parts, and now we are going to put them together into a functional set of wings. Now we’re going to take one of those extra rectangles and fold it thusly with the two wing pieces pinned on top. I don’t know what the words to explain this would be, but with the long sides as the vertical sides, fold both edges inward towards the center. I don’t know if that makes sense so here is a picture to show what I mean by thusly.

Step thirteen: sew a straight line down both edges close to the fold on the VERTICAL edges (note: this is kid of a bulky seam and its totally ok if its a little wonky, just as long as its secure). now the wings are attached.

Step Fourteen: now we’re going to do a similar process to attach the elastic loops to each other. Start by folding the second extra rectangle of fabric in the same way as we did for the wings, and then pin the elastic loops to it thusly. Again, I’m not sure if explainig it in words is clearer but basically turn those squares of sewn-down corners so that they are pointing to the center of the fabric rectagle, so that the inside corner of the loop is aligned with the edge of the fabric. Again, a photo to demonstrate what I mean by thusly: and then sew the vertical edges down in the same way as the wings.

Step fifteen: To recap, now we have wings that are attached to each other, and elastic arm loops that are attached to each other. Now we are going to attach the two sets to each other. This is another one where I really hope the photo clarifies it more than my explanation, but what you’re going to do is fold the top edge of each connecting rectangle down about 1/2 inch and then pinning them together, with all of the wrong sides sandwiched together in the middle. Again, thusly:

Step fifteen continued: laid flat, the pinned edges should look like this, no raw edges.

Step Seventeen: Sew across this top edge. Again, this may be hard for your machine to sew neatly because of how bulky it is. That’s ok do your best. We’re almost done. I believe in you.

Step Eighteen: Repeat the same fold-and-pin process on the bottom edge of the joining rectangles.

Step Nineteen: Sew the bottom edge in the same way as the the top edge.

AND THATS IT!!! YOU’RE READY TO PARTY!!! OR TRICK OR TREAT!!!! OR WHATEVER IT IS THAT YOU NEEDED WINGS FOR!!!

Special thanks to my kids for so graciously modeling the finished wings for me)

“But what about the tails???” you say. “What about the horns????”

Well I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that I have a bonus mini-tutorial for the tails!!! And you don’t even need any additional materials!!!

Step one: cut a pointy triangle shape from your leftover interfacing

Step two: In the same way we did for the wings, trace about 1/4 inch around your interfacing onto your fabric, and cut out two of those shapes.

Step Three: Layer the fabric and interfacing in the same way as we did with the wings, then pin and sew, just like we did with the wings (do you see a theme here…)

Step four: cut a strip of fabric that measures two inches wide by eighteen inches long (I’m going to be honest that I just traced around my clear ruler).

Step five: fold the strip lengthwise, pin and sew with a 1/4 inch seam allowance leaving both ends open. Attach a safety pin to one end to turn the tube right side out.

Step six: use the safety pin to turn the tube right side out.

Step Seven: Pin the tail tip to one end of the tube

Step eight: sew the tail tip and the tail together, backtacking multiple times to ensure it’s secure.

Step nine: use a safety pin to secure the tail to the waistband of whatever garments will make up the rest of the costume.

And there you have it! the perfect set of bat/demon/dragon/devil wings (and a coordinating tail, if you need one).

Here’s a final shot of the full family DisneyBound:

Outfit Details:

Hades (me, left) - SilverSaga Patterns Ella Dress made from a thrifted bedsheet, accented with a drape of swimsuit mesh fabric from my stash secured with a vintage scorpion brooch. Sandals from Savopoulos on Etsy, old jewelry I already had, and sunglasses from Zenni Optical (this style seems to be gone but there are lots of similar ones and this is my favorite place for glasses!).
Pain (Benedict, center) - Sweatsuit from Amazon, Accessories from this tutorial, and sneakers from Old Navy (old)
Panic (Alice, left) - Dress from Mightly, tights from Amazon, Accessories from this tutorial, and boots from Blowfish.

“But Victoria,” you say, “Your kids are clearly wearing headbands that you made, where is the tutorial for those so that we can complete the look???”

And to that I say, I made up the construction of the horned headbands so on-the-fly that I wasn’t sure that I would be able to write an accurate tutorial. By that point in the project I was running on pure vibes and…

I may be back with a part two if I can replicate the success of the first try.

Let’s not push our luck after getting this tutorial live a whole five days before Halloween.