Spider-Pup Halloween Costume Tutorial

Before we had kids, we were parents to four-legged children. Our first was blessed with our undivided attention. This meant not only did we walk and play with him, but we also incorporated him in the things we enjoyed doing whenever possible. Halloween has been our favorite holiday for quite some time so it should come as no surprise that we dress up in Halloween costumes, decorate and fog the house and give out candy by the handful. Oh, and dress up the dog to match.

We kept things fairly simple with our first dog, but we have evolved over time. This year we decided to create a Spider-Pup costume for Tink using a few simple items and about a half hour of labor!

Spider Pup Halloween Costume

This is a pretty simple project and you may have most of the items on hand. That makes it easy and affordable! Start by gathering all your supplies. 

Supplies:

Black pillowcase
Scissors
Glue gun
Velcro (You’ll need 2-3 1″ strips or several dots)
Giant Spider (the kind you find in with the Halloween decorations)
We purchased a spider at Michael’s and opted for one that is roughly the size of the dog. The body of the spider is about 6″ and the legs are each about 10″. When deciding on which to purchase, we paid careful attention to the spider’s weight so our small dog wouldn’t be burdened by it.

Begin by removing all the tags. It might seem trivial but you don’t want anything in the way of allowing the spider to adhere well to the fabric.

Next you’ll need to cut a hole in the corner at the closed end of the pillowcase. Make it only big enough for your dog’s head to fit through. It needs to be snug to help keep the spider upright while the dog is walking. With the crease of the pillowcase aligned to run down the middle of the dog’s back, cut holes for the front legs. Once you’ve checked for fit, cut the open end so it only extends from to the front of the rear legs.

Once you have the holes cut, check for fit then wrap the remainder of the pillow case around the dog’s stomach to determine how much of the pillow case can be cut off. You’ll want to have enough overlap to be able to add Velcro to the underside to make it secure. That’s the next step. Determine where you need to place the Velcro in order to provide a snug fit. 

Lay the coat near your workspace and grab the spider. Make sure you know which direction the eyes are facing so you don’t adhere it backwards. You need to be ready to attach it so have a plan for how far back on the dog you’ll want the spider to rest. We attached ours close to the front to help with stability. Use your glue gun to add a liberal amount of glue to the underside of the spider.

Quickly line up the seam of the coat and adhere it to the spider. Press firmly to ensure it connects well. If you feel like some is loose then spot-glue the remaining places.

That’s all there is to it! Put it on your dog to make sure it fits then adjust the legs so they don’t inhibit how well your dog can walk. Be sure to take your dog for some practice walks before Halloween so it can get comfortable with the new costume!

What’s your favorite pet costume?