Homemade fancy dress costumes

How to Make a DIY Pikachu Costume

 
Jane Bertin
By Jane Bertin. Updated: January 16, 2017
How to Make a DIY Pikachu Costume

Have you always been a Pokémon fan? Do you go on Pokémon Go at every location?

Good news - now you can do it in character. Pokémon costumes will be huge this Halloween, but they are also a fun choice for any kind of costume party. Plus, they're super comfortable and easy to make.

Pikachu might not be about catching 'em all, but he sure is the most iconic character from the game. Stay with us at OneHowTo and learn how to make a DIY Pikachu costume - it's easy, affordable and more unique than a store-bought onesie. You'll cause Thunder Shocks wherever you go!

You'll need:
  • Yellow shirt and leggings or unitard OR white clothes and yellow dye
  • Sewing machine or needle and thread
  • Scissors
  • Cardboard
  • Yellow and brown paint
  • Red and black permanent markers
  • Staples and glue
  • Old socks
  • Yellow beanie or headband
You may also be interested in: How to Make an Ash Ketchum Costume
Steps to follow:
1

In order to dress up as Pikachu, the first thing to do is to get the general feel of the character. His essential colors are, of course, black and yellow.

If you use different pieces of clothing, choose the same shade of bright yellow or at least shades that don't clash. Start by finding a long-sleeved yellow shirt and tights or leggings. If you happen to have a yellow unitard, that will work perfectly as a base of your DIY Pikachu costume.

Such a bright yellow is not that common, so don't worry if you don't have that kind of clothes. If you want to make your own costume instead of buying it, take a white or light-colored shirt and leggings and dye them bright Pikachu yellow.

How to dye clothes at home:

The first thing you need to know is that polyester, acrylic or unusual textiles can be hard to dye without professional equipment, so check the labels of the clothes for your Pikachu costume. Home dye tends to turn out slightly darker than expected, so choose a slightly lighter shade of yellow.

The hotter the water you use, the better the result; bring a bucketful of water almost to boiling point. If you use less water, the result will be more intense. Use a 25 grams packet of dye for half a kilogram of dry clothing, and read the instructions carefully. Once the clothes are dying in the pot, stir often in order to distribute the color.

Once the clothes are the right shade of yellow for a Pikachu costume, wash the clothes at least twice with a gentle soap and cold water. This will remove the traces from the dye.

2

Don't forget that Pikachu has two dark brown horizontal stripes on his lower back. Since he is the best-known Pokémon, everybody knows his traits - you really must get it right! The stripes are not flat but pointy, like two long isosceles triangles back to back.

Simply take a permanent marker of the kind that can be used on clothes, which are sold in most craft stores, or cut a piece of clothing.

Cut the four triangles / two long diamond shapes on the piece of clothing and sew or draw them on the leggings or the lower part of the shirt. We recommend placing a stripe on our bottom and another slightly lower down.

How to Make a DIY Pikachu Costume - Step 2
Image: polyvore.com y amazon.com
3

One of the most characteristic traits of this Pokémon is his lightning bolt-shaped tail, which of course points out that it's an Electric-type species. Your DIY Pikachu costume, then, can't be missing his tail.

To make a Pikachu tail, you'll need:

  • Cardboard: Hard enough not to bend at the smallest weight
  • Paint: Yellow and brown
  • Scissors
  • Staples

Draw the zig-zag shape of the tail on the cardboard with a pencil and cut along. If you want the tail to be wider, repeat the process and glue or staple the two tails together. Keep in mind that the top part of the tail reaches almost Pikachu's head and that it gets wider on top. However, such a big tail can be a bit difficult to wear with human proportions - don't be afraid to make it a bit smaller even if it's less accurate.

Once you have the shape, paint the inferior part of the tail - the one that'll be closest to your body - in dark brown and the top part in yellow.

Finally, staple the tail to the back of your costume, both to the pants and the shirt. If you staple the tail only on your bottom, it will bend and fall; staple it to your back as well so that it stands straight.

Foto: costumeexpress.com

How to Make a DIY Pikachu Costume - Step 3
4

The face of the Pokémon might look secondary to the costume, but if it looks bad it can make the whole costume fall apart. Don't worry if you're not very good at crafts; we have an option that will make the DIY process easier. You just need to get a bright yellow beanie hat; that'll be the base for Pikachu's face.

To make the other features, you'll need:

  • Pieces of yellow cloth for the ears
  • Red and black permanent markers
  • Old socks

The most important thing here are the ears. Take the pieces of cloth and roll them into two conical shapes. Sew them and stuff them with the old socks - if you have it, you can use foam instead. This way, they'll have a more defined and straight shape. Once you've set up the ears, paint the tips black. Sew them to the beanie - done!

Use the permanent markers to draw Pikachu's face. It's quite easy, because it's all round shapes; just make sure the beanie doesn't fold or wrinkle. Draw the eyes in black - leave an empty spot so that they look shiny -, make a tiny dot for the nose and draw the mouth in a curved "w" line. Then, draw the perfectly round cheeks in red. Perfect!

Alternatively, you can make the ears and glue or staple them onto a thin headband. Pikachu's face will be your own, so you can do your makeup in gold and red.

How to Make a DIY Pikachu Costume - Step 4
5

Pikachu has yellow feet, but yellow shoes or boots can be hard to find. Instead, we recommend going the easier route by wearing black shoes or boots with your DIY costume.

You're almost done! Now you just need to get the right rebellious yet cheerful Pikachu attitude - and ideally, an Ash Ketchum to follow around.

6

You can make a more dressy Pikachu costume by switching the leggings or pants for a skirt - we recommend a yellow tutu, which will give you the fluffiness of this Pokémon.

This is how to make a DIY Pikachu costume; if you have any tips or any request for other Pokémon costumes, tell us in the comments section!

How to Make a DIY Pikachu Costume - Step 6
Image: costumekingdom.com

If you want to read similar articles to How to Make a DIY Pikachu Costume, we recommend you visit our Festivities & Celebrations category.

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How to Make a DIY Pikachu Costume