DIY Fear from Inside Out Costume

You knew it was coming. I couldn’t make Quinn a new costume and not make one for Elliot. Quinn’s Anger Inside Out costume turned out awesome but I think I might like the Fear Inside Out costume a tiny bit more. And don’t miss my crazy Bing Bong costume.

I love that both costumes only require simple materials, some of which you may have on hand but all should be easy to find. My only struggle for the Fear costume was the purple knit cap. Finding a beanie in Arizona in the summer is almost ridiculous. 😉 So I ordered it on Amazon (I included affiliate links below for your convenience). I bought the duct tape at Michael’s with 40% off coupons and we already had the shorts and felt at home. I found a Carters blue and white striped shirt at a thrift store, it was fate and only $2.99! Bonus is that it’s a nice shirt that he can use for school pictures this year.

DIY Fear from Inside Out Costume Materials

Purple knit cap
black, white and purple felt
Houndstooth duct tape
Maroon/Merlot duct tape
purple sparkly pipe cleaner
ribbon
hair clip
blue and white striped button down shirt
blue pants or shorts
glue gun
hole punch
Fear template

Fear Hat

Start by printing out a copy of the Fear template. I printed it at 165%, to make the eyes exaggerated like in the film.

Start with the eyes and cut out using the white felt. I like using double-sided tape to keep the template secure to the felt when cutting it out. Then work inwards, cutting out the purple eye balls, black pupils and black eyebrows. Then hot glue it all together.

I actually pinned the eyes on the hat first to adjust the placement before hot gluing it in place. The final touch is adding the purple pipe cleaner through the top of the hat. I covered the end of the pipe cleaner with a piece of duct tape so it wouldn’t poke Elliot’s head.

Fear Vest & Bow Tie

Now technically you could buy a tie and vest. I saw a few houndstooth vest options for adults on amazon but they are pretty pricey and I needed a kid sized one for Elliot. I did find a cute maroon bow tie at a reasonable price but I figured if I had to make a duct tape vest, I could make a duct tape bow tie too.

I started by making a vest template out of newspaper. If you own a vest already, you could just use that as a template instead. Adjust the sides and size until it fits good.

Now make yourself some duct tape fabric. Basically you layer strips of duct tape, slightly overlapping each one until you get the size you need. Then repeat the process in a perpendicular pattern on top, so that you have double-sided duct tape fabric.

I ended up running short on my houndstooth duct tape and because I was crafting in the mountains, far away from a craft store I opted to make the back of the vest with the merlot duct tape I bought for the bow tie. Once you cut out your vest pieces from the “fabric” using your template, tape it together with extra tape.

At this point you will want to adjust the vest with tape and scissors to make it fit properly. This vest opens in the back rather than in the front, I wanted to match the look of the character’s vest but keep it easy for Elliot to put on. The vest was stiff enough to stay on by itself but to be safe I punched two holes on either side of the back and used ribbon to keep it tied together.

To make the bow tie, make another piece of duct tape fabric out of maroon/merlot colored duct tape. Fan fold the duct tape fabric like an accordion then taped the center of it to create the bow tie shape. I used a small piece of duct tape to attach a simple hair clip on the back.

I think it turned out pretty cute, don’t you?

And the best part it was a really inexpensive project. I spent $6 on two rolls of duct tape (remember I used 40% off coupons) + $3 on the long sleeved shirt at a thrift store + $5 for the knit cap. We already had the colored felt, pipe cleaner and shorts, so the entire project was only $14. I think that’s quite a deal on a super cute costume!