An Easy DIY Bat Costume So Adorable No One Will Know It Only Took 10 Minutes

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If you’re in a pinch for a Halloween costume, you can never go wrong with a DIY bat costume you can make in minutes. There are two kinds of people in the world: Those that love to spend days, even weeks, DIYing an intricate Halloween costume, and the rest of us who are lucky if we can find 10 free minutes between dropping the kids off at school and cooking dinner to put a costume together. Even if we tell ourselves we’re going to start early this year, we procrastinate and are left scrambling to find something on October 31.

Luckily, it’s actually pretty easy to put together a pretty awesome costume — even at the 11th hour. Chances are you have a LBD, black fabric and some hot glue chillin’ in your closet somewhere — and if you do, you’ve got yourself one adorable bat costume. Just add some sleek black heels and lipstick and you’re ready to impress on All Hallows’ Eve.

This DIY women’s bat costume is super simple to make, and no one will know you threw it together at the last minute.

Materials needed: 

Directions:

Bat wings:

Step 1:

Fold your 2 yards of black fabric in half and cut inverted scallops on the diagonal, as shown.

Step 2:

Cut 2 (3-inch) sections of elastic and loop them, as shown. Sew each loop onto the ends of the bat wings using a straight stitch, and go back and forth a few times to secure it.

Bat ears:

Now pair with your favorite little black dress, a pair of strappy black heels and some dark lipstick! Oh, and this year, a stylish face mask.

Face Mask with Filter

Originally published October 2014 and updated October 2020.

For more DIY costume ideas, check out our gallery below: