How to Make a Bat Costume for Kids | No-Sew Wings & Ears

Make a bat costume for kids with black felt, fabric glue, and a headband — no sewing skills required.

If your child wants to be a bat this Halloween, you don’t need a sewing machine or a store-bought getup. A few yards of black felt, some elastic, and a plain black long-sleeve shirt are enough to build wings and ears in an afternoon.

Here’s the honest trade-off up front: no-sew felt wings won’t survive a full night of roughhousing like stitched ones will. For a single trick-or-treat outing, they hold up fine. If your kid plans to wear the costume for weeks of dress-up, run a few stitches along the stress points.

What You Need Before You Start

Gather everything first so cutting goes fast. Most of these you already own:

• Black felt or craft fabric — 2 yards for a standard kid’s size
• Scissors and tailor’s chalk or a washable marker
• Fabric glue (Aleene’s Tacky Glue works well)
• Elastic cord or wide ribbon for wrist and shoulder loops
• Thin headband and black felt for ears
• Black long-sleeve shirt and black pants for the base
• Safety pins as backup if glue needs time to dry

Skip fabric store felt if you want sturdier wings — craft felt is thin but cheap. For a heavier drape, use polyester felt or even an old black bedsheet stiffened with liquid starch.

Measure Your Child Before Cutting Anything

The most common mistake in bat costume DIY is skipping measurements and cutting wings too short. A wing that ends at the elbow looks like a cape, not a bat. Take two numbers before you touch the fabric:

• Wing span: Have the child stretch both arms out to the sides like a T. Measure from left wrist to right wrist across the back.
• Wing length: Measure from the base of the neck down to the knees. This sets how far the wing points extend.

Add two inches to each measurement for hemming and attachment points.

For the bat wing shape, fold your fabric in half so you only cut once. Draw half a wing — a wide curve with three pointed scallops at the bottom edge — along the fold, then cut through both layers. Unfold and you have a perfectly mirrored pair.

Assemble the Wings and Ears (No Sewing Required)

This is where the costume comes together. Work on a flat surface and give glue time to dry between steps.

1. Attach the wrist loops.
2. Add shoulder loops. The wings will hang behind the arms like a cape when the loops are on.
3. Build the ears.
4. Test the fit. Have your child put on the base shirt and try the wings. The wrist loops should be snug but not tight, and the arms should move freely overhead without the loops sliding off.

A small mask finishes the look. Cut an oval from felt with eyeholes, or use a store-bought black mask tied around the head with ribbon. Loose elastic that dangles can irritate a kid’s face, so tie a secure fit.

If you’d rather sew the wings directly into a shirt instead of using loops, unpick the side seams, insert the wing edges, and stitch them back up. That version lies flatter and moves with the child naturally — worth it if you own a needle and thread.

How to Make the Umbrella-Bat Wings Variant

An old black umbrella makes surprisingly convincing bat wings.

This version is stiffer than felt, so it holds the classic bat silhouette better in wind, and it collapses flat for storage.

The one real downside: even taped spoke ends stay firm, and the whole frame rattles when the kid runs. Felt is quieter and more comfortable for a full evening.

Once the costume works, compare your homemade result against ready-made options to see if the effort was worth it — our roundup of top bat costumes for kids lists the best store-bought picks with price ranges. The DIY route costs less and fits perfectly, but a commercial costume saves you the two hours of crafting.