This homemade Halloween Firefly costume combines common household items with items purchased from several simple store. It can be adapted to children and adults. And yes, it glows.
For more ideas, check out Halloween costume ideas with garden and nature themes.
How to make a firefly costume
Happy Halloween.
This DIY Firefly outfit is budget friendly, comfortable and fun to wear.
I wanted to use what I already had and simplify it with just a few inexpensive extras. My goal was to create something that could be clearly recognised as a firefly without ruining the clothes and ruining the time it was put together.
We’ll show you how you made each part of your costume using optional variations, depending on what you have at hand.
As always, I recommend checking your supplies first, borrowing if possible, or visiting second-hand clothing stores before buying new ones. We also included a link to online sources.
Main parts
This costume will require:
Black hat bug antenna (often sold as “butterfly” antenna) Black, long sleeve sweatshirt black jeans or track pants black shoes bug wings (often sold as “fairy” wings) Clear fanny pack glow stick (I chose yellow) Options: Extra Bug Arm (2) – Black Fabric Machine Machine Machine Machine Machine Machine Adhesive, Velcro Strip (hook and loop tape)
More tips and details are provided below.
Hat and antenna
The bug antenna is attached to the headband. I sewed the headband onto a black winter hat. Black embroidery thread keeps it even safer. If the headband remains on its own, there is no need to sew it.
As a bonus idea, I considered adding oversized firefly eyes to my hat. If it sounds fun to you, it’s worth exploring.
Wings
I used a wing that resembles an Amazon wing. It comes with a resilient shoulder strap, but it comes in a size for kids and isn’t very comfortable for adults.
Instead of replacing the elasticity with a longer strap, I chose to attach the wings directly to the shirt using a shoulder hook-and-loop (velcro) strip. It can be purchased with adhesive or rolls. This is the most economical option.
The wings I bought were a single unit, so I started by cutting them into two separate pieces. I then glued a wide strip of black wool on the top of each wing and attached velcro to the felt and the shoulders of my shirt.
arm
Fireflies are actually beetles. That is, there are six limbs. To make the costumes a little more beetle-like, I added two additional bug arms to each costume.
I used scrap black fabric and polyester filling, but the old black knee socks work as well. If you don’t sew, strong fabric adhesives can also hold the seams.
Each outfit requires two extra arms. This requires four black fabrics, 7 x 24 inches each.
To create a “hand”, I sewed a small point on one end of each arm. They’re a bit crazy, but the finished look is worth the effort.
assemble:
Place the fabric piece on the right side and sew it around the three sides to keep the flat edges open. The 1/4 inch seam allowance is fine. Put your arm on the right side. It comes with polyester filling. Dull chopsticks help to stuff them into your “hands.” Don’t worry if they’re a bit biased – wonkiness adds to the effect of a bug. Topstitch each arm in two places to create a segment (like a real beetle). Fold the open edge and close the top stitch.
To attach:
Stitch the flat end of each bug arm on the waist on the side of the shirt. To lift it onto your arms, use clear threads to hang them from the elbow area of the shirt.
Shine
Fireflies communicate by emitting flashes of light from their abdomen. Mainly for mating.
For the costumes, I wanted to keep things comfortable (especially for sitting and driving), so I took a different approach.
I used a yellow glow stick tucked into a clear fanny pack to mimic the sparkle of the fireflies. These specific glow sticks do not flash, but emit a nice, stable light and are easy to use.
If your budget allows, you can also try a small LED light with a battery pack. This can be set to blink on and off for a more realistic effect.
The glow stick I used was labelled as lasting for 12 hours, but on test it started to dim significantly after 6-8 hours. This is still plenty of time for a Halloween party, but if you want to continue to shine, bring extras.
After Halloween, remove the stitching from the hat and shirt and save the other pieces for the new outfit next year.
Firefly Pun
When someone asked about our outfits, we came up with some firefly puns.
We can say:
We are the original flash mob. It’s clearly illuminated. Just a few glow getters. We shine for life. We are in long-term globalisation. We’re a little further away. It was love in the first light.
Happy Halloween.
~Melissa Empress of the Defiled
