Everyone loves Nemo and Dory but I am super excited to meet some of their new friends in Finding Dory. Hank, their octopus friend caught my eye in the previews. I couldn’t wait to create a Finding Dory costume, a Hank the octopus costume.
Octopus in Finding Nemo Costume
Note Hank is technically a septopus because he lost one of his tentacles along the way. You could totally drop one of the arms in this costume for authenticity if you like. 😉
This would also make a fun dress up idea for an ocean themed party or seasonal costumes for a shark week party, anything under the sea fits, right?
DIY Octopus Costume from Finding Dory
This octopus costume is another hoodie costume. I find sweatshirt hoodie costumes really easy to make because I get a solid color base and a hood to create the upper details like a hat, hair or face.
I happen to find the perfect red hoodie for this project at a local thrift store. It’s perfect because it was an XL women’s sweatshirt, this costume requires an oversized sweatshirt because of its design.
It also didn’t have a front pocket which is unusual. In fact I can’t even find a similar one on Amazon to suggest but I don’t think the pocket would make much of a difference.
Hank the Octopus Finding Dory Costume Materials
- Red hoodie – at least a few sizes larger than the costume wearer
- Black, light blue and white felt
- White duct tape
- Stuffing material
How to Create 8 Arms for this Octopus Costume
An octopus has 8 arms, the sweatshirt arms will become 2 of them. We need to create 6 more arms with the rest of the sweatshirt.
Start by cutting along the side hem, stopping an inch short of the armpit on each side. Now cut the front section into three even strips and the back section into three even strips.
These 6 strips will be sewn into tubes to create the rest of the octopus arms. Fold each strip in half and sew up the side to create a tube. Stuff each tube with pillow stuffing and then sew up the tops.
I did this all by hand, if you have access to a sewing machine, this would be a super quick step. Alternatively you could use spare fabric to create 6 tubes and attach each one to a hoodie with a safety pin.
Suction cups on Octopus Costume for Halloween
I used white duct tape to create my suction cups. Draw template circles onto parchment paper and tape a strip of white duct tape to one side.
The parchment paper trick allows you to 1) use a template for your duct tape design, 2) easily cut through the duct tape and 3) peel the duct tape off the parchment paper easily.
Stick the white circles onto the back of each arm. They stuck fairly well for me but you could make them more permanent by using a hot glue gun to attach them.
Hank the Septopus Costume Eyes
Cut different circles of felt to create Hank’s octopus eyes. I hot glued the eye pieces together but then sewed the completed eyes onto the hood.
I wasn’t sure about the final placement, so I didn’t want to use hot glue for the final step. Either method works well for this part of the process.
It’s definitely a silly costume but those are my favorite kind. If you love Hank as much as we do don’t miss this Hank the Octopus Craft.
I love that it turned out pretty cute and it didn’t require much money or skill.
I consider this one of my great costume ideas. It can easily sized down for a toddler or baby octopus or much larger for a giant octopus costume.
More Homemade Costumes from Pixar Movies
- Monsters Inc Costumes
- Anger Inside Out Costume
- Bing Bong Costume from Inside Out
- Fear Inside Out Costume
- Toy Story Disneybound
- Forky Costume from Toy Story 4
- Duke Caboom Costume from Toy Story 4
This post was originally published June 11, 2016.
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