Creating the Body of the Costume
Select a black or white sweatsuit. Choose a sweatshirt and sweatpants of the appropriate size for the costume wearer. You can go with white for a fully white sheep or a black sweatsuit for a black sheep. Choose a hooded sweatshirt for one version of the costume or a crew neck if you want to have a separate hat or headband. If you think you’ll be too hot in a sweatsuit, you could go with a long sleeve shirt instead. Sweatpants are probably your best option for pants unless you want to choose some tights, leggings, or other simple black or white pants. If you use clothes you already have rather than buying new ones for the costume, remember that you’ll be using glue that is permanent. Once you make the costume, the clothes are ruined for regular wear.
Choose cotton balls or polyfill. For a small child’s costume, you can use cotton balls because you won’t be covering a large area. If the costume is for an adult, you’ll want to use some kind of synthetic cotton or polyfill batting because it will attach more quickly, and cover more area, than cotton balls. You can use polyfill for a child’s costume, as well. Cotton balls can be purchased at any big-box store or pharmacy. Batting can be purchased at big-box stores, but you might have to go to a craft store. Cotton balls give a more textured and authentic look, but cotton batting will attach much faster and cover more space. If you are in a hurry, don’t use cotton balls.
Wash the clothes. It won’t be easy to wash the costume once it is fully assembled, so wash everything now if you want to. It is especially good to wash brand new clothes to break them in a little and make them more comfortable. It is not necessary to wash clothes that you’ve worn many times if they are clean already.
Glue cotton batting or cotton balls to the clothes. Using hot glue or fabric glue, begin attaching the cotton to the shirt and pants. Bunch the cotton batting up as you glue it, so it looks like sheep's wool. Place the cotton balls close together so there aren’t gaps. You don’t have to cover the entire surface of the clothes with cotton. You can leave a few inches at the end of the sleeves and pant legs to mimic the way that a sheep’s wool stops before the hooves.
Making Your Sheep’s Head
Cut the ear shapes out of black or white felt, depending on your costume. Make them about six inches (15 cm) long and two and a half inches wide (6 cm). Use one layer of felt for basic ears, or sew two pieces of felt together for fluffier ears. Both pieces can be the same color, or you can create an inner and outer ear by using one black and one white piece of felt per ear. Be creative to make the ears look the way you want them to. Stuff a few cotton balls or a chunk of polyfill between the pieces of felt before you sew them together to make the ears look plump. Use black and white paper or another fabric besides felt if you don’t have felt or don’t want to buy any. Use only one piece of felt for each ear if you don’t want them double thick.
Glue the ears to a plastic headband. Glue the ears to the headband so they flop downward or stick out to the sides. Cut out a circle of white paper and glue a bunch of cotton balls to it. Glue this to the top of the headband to mimic the tufts of wool on top of the sheep’s head.
Use a white or black beanie for the head. Take a white or black skullcap style sock hat and sew or glue the ears onto the sides. Take a couple of handfuls of cotton balls and glue them to the top of the hat. Make sure to use a hat that fits tightly on your head and doesn’t have a point on top or a droop in the back. If you don’t want to attach ears to the beanie, put the headband with ears over the beanie.
Use the hood of your sweatshirt as the head. If you bought a hooded sweatshirt, you can attach the ears and head tufts directly to the hood. Sew or glue the ears onto the sides of the hood and attach some cotton balls to the top. This option allows you to easily slide back the head portion if you start to get too hot in the costume.
Adding the Final Touches
Wear black socks on your feet and hands. One way to make the costume even more realistic is to wear long, black socks to look like hooves. If you will be walking around outside, wear black shoes. Take them off when you get inside, if you want to. You could also wear black gloves or mittens so your hands are still useable.
Paint the tip of your nose black. Using washable craft paint, black lipstick, or eye-black, cover the tip of your nose. Don’t paint all the way up the bridge of your nose or all the way under your nostrils. Paint about a one-inch diameter section at the end of your nose. Place a six or seven dots of paint on your top lip under your nose like whiskers and add red lipstick to make the look pop.
Wrap black tape around the wrists and ankles. If you chose a white sweatshirt and you are not wearing socks or gloves on your hands, use black tape on the wrists and ankles of the clothes to mimic where the wool ends and the hooves begin. Duct tape or athletic cloth tape works well.
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