Porcupette Costume

For our baby girl’s first Halloween, we wanted to embody her tought little spirit, but make it versatile, so she can be worn in a baby carrier and crawling around -- enter the baby porcupine.

My intention was to create a convertible piece. So, I constructed the body and hood with long back and white faux fur. I sewed two backpack like Velcro straps that was a cape vest and also be able to transition and connect to the baby carrier -- so I could wear her. To create the quills, I used masking tape cut thinly and taped off multiple lines to create the black and white quills. I used about 100 black zip-ties for the body and 20 smaller zip-ties for the head. After sewing the body to shape and securing the straps, I both hot-glued and hand-sewed on the quills. I worked line by line from the top down until her armor was completed. For her head I molded the headpiece around her favorite beanie and hand-sewed it, in hopes it would be less annoying and more inviting for her to toddle around in. Big win, because it worked!

Let me tell you, girlfriend was fierce! The baby porcupine was a hit every single party and multiple trunk n’ treats. Every step we took, we had crowds touching the quills, snapping pics, and ogling over how chill and happy she was to don the quills. I’ve been asked multiple times to recreate it, we shall see. Perhaps I’ll make adult sizes for our whole family.