We love the book series Princess in Black about a princess who changes into all black to fight monsters from Monster Land. So we made a DIY Princess in Black costume for Halloween! This is a great costume idea if your school does book character day in October, too.
The Princess in Black is just your typical pink princess until she gets a call about a monster – then she turns into a superhero! We love this book series – it’s great for toddlers and elementary age kids. This outfit has a few parts but is pretty simple to make! This blog post includes downloads for the mask, flower, t-shirt decorations and staff.
Princess in Black Costume Materials
Here’s a link to the Princess in Black book series in case you’re interested! (affiliate links)
This easy DIY costume is fun to put together. If you’re working really last-minute, use black leggings, black pants, a black skirt, or black dress as a base for the costume instead of sewing them.
- Black Knit Fabric, I love double knit or Liverpool
- 1 yard black fabric for cape, I recommend lightweight cotton
- Grey fabric for belt
- 2″ elastic for belt
- Felt or iron-on vinyl Dark Grey, Yellow and White for shirt decorations
- 1/2″ wooden dowel (about 12″ long) and round dowel cap
- Silver paint
- Cardboard or chipboard for scepter flower shape
- Fray check
- Hot glue gun
- Optional costume Add ons: grey tights, black boots or black shoes, long black gloves, orange wig
- Base clothing patterns or basic store-bought clothing. I’m using:
- The September Shorts Pattern (modified below)
- The Midtown Top Pattern
- Collar, flower and mask templates, download below
DIY Princess in Black Costume Templates
Download the templates below. Print them out at 100% or DO NOT SCALE. The mask is on both pages, so trim off the 1/2″ border and tape mask pattern together.
Girls Superhero Costume Instructions
First let’s sew the shorts! These are just basic black shorts. I’m using the September Leggings pattern, modified just to make them looser to be more like the Princess wears! If you already have soccer shorts or similar black shorts those will work just fine!
To make the shorts fit more loosely, just take the shorts pattern straight down at the inseam instead of following the curve of the pattern piece.
The only modification I made on the Midtown top is adding 1.5″ to sleeve hem to make them a little longer.
Then use the templates to cut the felt collar (cut this one on the fold at the smaller edge), flower, flower middle and sleeve accents.
The sleeve accents make the sleeve look like it is puffed in a princess way – glue the accents on at an angle. Glue three to each sleeve, towards the front of the sleeves.
I didn’t glue the bottom of the flower down all the way so it could overlap the belt a little.
Belt Instructions
To sew the belt cut a strip of fabric 6″ tall by about 3-5″ longer than desired waist measurement. Fuse lightweight fusible interfacing to the back. Then sew the belt into a tube and turn rightside out. Press.
Princess in Black Kids Cape Instructions
This cape is super simple – we’ll sew it right onto the shirt.
Cut a piece of fabric 24″ wide by 32″ long. This size cape should fit about sizes 4-7. Feel free to adjust the measurements for your size.
Press under 1/4″ twice on the side edges and the bottom. Sew to finish sides and hem.
At the top, gather the fabric using a baste stitch until the width matches the back neckline width. Flip over and topstitch to keep in place. Clip threads.
Beaded Princess Crown Tutorial for Princess in Black Costume
To make the beaded crown, string about 25-30 beads on 4 pipe cleaners. Bend and shape them as shown, then glue them to a headband. Use lots of glue to keep the tiara segments together.
Ninja Mask Pattern
To make the ninja mask, cut one piece on the fold from your knit fabric. Make sure the stretch direction is going around the head or mask so that it will fit more comfortably. The mask template included fits my 6 year old so adjust the length at the back if necessary.
Cut the eye holes where indicated on the pattern piece – or mark them for your own child’s eye placement and cut as needed. After you’ve cut the holes, treat the edges with fray check and let it dry. The fray check will help the holes to stay crisp and not fray. After it dries, trim the inside of the holes with your scissors to make them smoother.
Scepter Tutorial
Cut the flower template from cardboard, a cereal box or chipboard. Glue it to the dowel and then glue the dowel cap to the bottom. Let dry. Paint the whole thing silver and let it dry. You can use this scepter tutorial for any Disney princesses, too – just change the shape at the top to fit your princess.
Now put all the pieces together and you have an awesome DIY Princess in Black Costume!
Need more Halloween inspiration? Check out this post with over 30 DIY Halloween costumes!
