How to Make a Witch Costume

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Inspired by Hocus Pocus this spooky season? Need a fun Witch Costume in a hurry? Don’t really want to spend any money.. do not fear, I have your back! Today we are going to make an inexpensive Witch Costume focusing on the Witch’s skirt, which can then also be complimented with a homemade paper witch hat and broom.

easy witch costume diy
Be a fiercesome witch this Halloween (ok, I think she is cute actually..)

Today, we are going to use black bin bags to make a witches skirt! You can then dress it up or down as much as you like.

I always encourage people to work with WHAT THEY HAVE already and not go out and make unnecessary purchases. So if you make this witch’s skirt, you can team it up with either some dark coloured tights or leggings (they do not have to be black, nor do they have to be stripey.. but of course if you have stripey tights, then wear them) as well as a dark top. Again, we have black t-shirts for dressing up reasons – as you can decorate them for all occassions (especially dress up days at school). But if you don’t have a black t-shirt, any plain t-shirt will do (you can even turn one inside out)! Similarly, if you DO have a Halloween top – be it a stripey top, a pumpkin top, a sparkly top… you can wear that too!!!

Then.. make a paper witch hat to go with your DIY skirt. A bit of Hocus Pocus in the craft room and you are sorted and ready for any Halloween Party or trick or treating session!

So.. let’s learn how to dress like a witch without buying anything!! We do love to keep things thrifty and low cost!

Supplies needed for your DIY Witch Costume

witchs skirts
The supplies really are the simple: bin bags and some ribbon/ string or elastic

For the witch’s tutu:

  • Ribbon or elastic
  • 2-4 black bin liners (2 for kids, 4 for an adult)
  • Plastic bags in constrastic colours (if you wish!)
halloween bride costume

Don’t have BLACK bin liners.. fear not.. you can achieve a similar costume DIY with White Bin Liners.. simply make a Halloween Bride! Complete with DIY Bin Liner Veil. Talk about the shabby chic look!

For the witches hat:

  • elastic
  • 2 sheets of black cardstock
  • scissors
  • glue/ tape
  • a little ribbon/ tulle or more black bin liners to go around the base of the hat

The rest of the witch’s outfit:

All you will need now is:

  • a plain top/ tshirt
  • leggings or tights
  • shoes

We kept the rest of the outfit super simple and worked with what we had! But if you have special sparkly tshirts or tops, or stripy tights, most definitely add these to your outfit. The key is to WORK WITH WHAT YOU HAVE and not to make unnecessary or expensive purchases and you can still go as a Hocus Pocus witch this Halloween!

How to make a Witches Skirt from plastic bags

I have a spooky video tutorial from way back when. It is playing on auto play and you can check that out if you wish! Similarly you can simply follow the step by step instructions too!

DIY Witches Skirt – Step by Step Instructions

Grab your large bin liner and LEAVE IT FOLDED!

cut the bin liners

Start cutting strips across it’s width approximately 4-5cm (1.5-2inches) wide. Cut the hole bag. You will need a second bin bag for kid’s skirt and up to 4 for an adult’s skirt, but start off with one first.

Unravel the strips to open them up and cut open one end if you wish (but you don’t have to).

gently knot the bin liner

Once you have all the strips ready, get your ribbon ready.

Make sure the ribbon fits nicely around your waist and has enough to tidy a bow too!

Take one end of the loop. Place it under the ribbon (top left).

Feed the other end of the bin bag through the loop (top right).

And pull through until it is neat (bottom left). Do not pull it too tight. Leave on “that side” of the ribbon. You don’t need to flip it over.

Repeat..

keep going

Keep going..

…and going…

… until you feel you have enough to fit around your waist. The image above shows one bin bag liner.

add contrasting colors to the witch skirt

Now if you wish, you can add some contrasting plastic bag colours. I used a green Tescos bag. In the UK, there are also fabulous orange Sainsbury’s bags. White would work too!

Add the coloured strips of plastic at intervals to make a little pattern.

tie a bow in the witches skirt

Once you are all done, simply wrap it around your waist and tie with a neat bow.

combine the witch costume

Now put the rest of your costume together! As mentioned, WORK WITH WHAT YOU HAVE ALREADY! In our case (this year) Granny had already bought us a witch’s hat, so we were that.. but read on, and you can make your own.

Now make the Witch Hat Fascinator

Toddler wearing an easy to make paper witch hat as part of her Halloween costume
These witch costumes are great for toddlers too

How to make a paper witchs hat – here we made it as a fascinator (which I think looks really cute), but if you have access to larger pieces of heavy paper, you can of course make bigger hats too!

Other Witch Costume Embellishments

Easy Spider Pin DIY (part of a Halloween Costume accessory)

And once you have your basic Witches Outfit… you can accessorize it as much as you like! Leave it plain… add funky jewelry or sew your self a bright and colourful spider brooch?

sew a spider

Similarly, my daughter made some of these spiders a while back (all you need to do is cut circles and know to sew a running stitch) and they made GREAT additions to her Witch’s hat! Maybe even have a go at making a witch broom too!

hocus pocus witch costume

Wish you and your kids a fun Halloween and Happy Trick or Treating!!

Need more Last Minute Halloween Costume ideas? Browse some of these:

And more Halloween Witch Craft Ideas coming soon! Watch this space for fabulous, easy and fun crafts for kids of all ages.