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Dog Man Costume

How to make a DIY Dog Man Costume with easy instructions and a free template download for the perfect Dog Man costume!

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If you have a book character day coming up, a huge Dog Man fan looking for a Dog Man shirt, or you’re looking for a Dog Man Halloween costume, this is a really easy costume to DIY! It takes minimal items and has a big impact!

This year our school threw us a curve ball when they announced the Halloween costume parade was changed to a book-character costume parade. I told my son he could easily wear his Luke Skywalker costume and carry one of his favorite books, a Jedi You Will Be. He smiled and told me he had big hopes and dreams to be Dog Man from the Dog Man book series.

Dog Man Costume DIY

Creating A Dog Man Costume

With minimal time, I scrambled to figure out how to make a Dog Man costume. I mean it’s part skeleton of a human and part skelton of a dog, so it took a little creativity. With a little help from my designer and my crafty friend who lives close by, we put together an easy and cute costume perfect for a Dog Man lover!

It makes a great Dog Man Halloween costume, but it’s also perfect for book week in February and April when many schools do book parades and dress up like a book character day.

Dog Man Costume DIY

There are two ways to make this: one with a cutting machine and vinyl, and one with felt and fabric glue. The process is the same for both, so pick what works best for you, and let’s make a Dog Man costume of your kid’s dreams!

Dog Man Costume DIY

How to Make a Dog Man Costume

Supplies:

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Dog Man Shirt

Dog Man Symbols Free Download

Use these files as a template to cut felt.

Get Your FREE Dog Man Symbols Template

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Dog Man .SVG file.

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    Dog Man Symbols SVG Cut Files FREE Download

    Use this file with a cutting machine.

    Get Your FREE Dog Man Symbols SVG Cut File

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    Dog Man symbol printable.

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      Instructions:

      Download our Dog Man symbols printable. We did our best to have our designer mimic the police symbols on the shirt and the Dog Man hat. You can either grab the shapes to download and print if you don’t have a cutting machine. OR, you can grab the Dog Man SVG files to cut the vinyl.

      Make sure you’ve washed and pre-shrunk your shirt, particularly if you’re working with vinyl.

      Cut out the symbols on the felt or cut the shapes with your cutting machine.

      If you’re using felt, glue the pieces onto the shirt and hat. If you’re using vinyl, iron them in place. You’ll want to get a Sharpie and draw a black line around the edges of the felt for the two-color effect. But if that intimates you, it looks pretty great with just one color!

      Dog Man is mostly a human figure with a Dog Man head. So to create the look of man’s best friend also in human form, you’ll need dog ears. You’ll want to either buy a dog ears headband or dog wigs to cover your head. We opted to go easy and attach some ears to the hat.

      For the dog ears we bought a small piece of furry fabric and cut the ear shape. A simple safety pin will keep them in place to cover the costume wearer’s ears. It’s an easy idea that totally does the trick!

      Dog Man Hat

      Complete the Look

      Add some jeans or blue pants to complete the look. We also grabbed a little black paint and drew on a nose, the three small spots, and the lines on the neck in place of the collar. It completed his look perfectly!

      I’m pleased to report he was a huge celebrity at the school parade! All the kids from the older grades cheered him on and made him feel like a total rockstar!

      Yield: 1 Costume

      Dog Man Costume

      Dog Man Costume

      Make Dav Pilkey proud and make your own DIY Dog Man costume!

      Prep Time 5 minutes
      Active Time 15 minutes
      Total Time 20 minutes
      Difficulty Intermediate
      Estimated Cost $10-$20

      Tools

      • Good pair of scissors to cut felt

      Instructions

      1. Prewash your royal blue shirt.
      2. Download our Dog Man symbols printable.
      3. Cut out the symbols on the felt or use the SVG file and cut using a cutting machine to cut iron-on vinyl.
      4. If you're using felt, glue the pieces onto the shirt and hat. If you're using vinyl, iron them in place.
      5. Cut out dog ears and attach them to the hat using safety pins or fabric glue.

      Did you make this project?

      Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Pinterest

      Shop the Post

      If you’re ready to make a Dog Man costume, this shopping tool makes grabbing the supplies easy! Add the ones you need to your cart and they’ll all be auto-added to your Amazon cart for easier checkout.

      Like this costume idea? Be sure to check out these posts too:

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      Mommy and Me Halloween Costume Ideas

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      8 Comments

      1. Mine downloaded as a PDF, not an SVG. How can I get the SVG? I’ve checked my download folder. Thanks!

        1. Camille Whiting says:

          Thanks for letting us know, we’ve updated the download file and it should work now!

      2. Ellen Abbott says:

        The SVG file did not auto download for me either. It just pulled up a tab in my safari. I cannot figure out how to download it. Bummer because this was a great design.

        1. Camille Whiting says:

          Double check your Downloads folder. Most email clients automatically download it once you confirm your email.

      3. the SVG file does not work. I’m not sure what to do once the email was sent. it doesn’t give download options. just FYI.

        1. Camille Whiting says:

          Please check your downloads folder. It auto downloads to most email clients.

          1. Hi!

            I unfortunately cannot obtain an SVG file for this. We ordered all the supplies and everything and now we cannot make the dogman badges. Not in downloads either. Thanks for your time.

            1. Camille Whiting says:

              Did you confirm your email address? Sometimes that’s the last step to trigger the download.