Something brought you here. Call it what you will, fate… destiny… wanting to make a DIY Flynn Rider costume. Either way, you are in the right place. When my daughter wanted to be Rapunzel for Halloween, I decided we should all go as Tangled characters. My husband decided he wanted to be Flynn Rider. But, I never want to pay a bunch of money for a costume that will only be worn for a couple hours. I also don’t have the time or skill to sew one from scratch. So, I made him a Flynn Rider Costume using what he already had, a thrift store shirt, and some faux leather fabric.
I did do a little bit of sewing to make this costume. But, if you want you can skip it altogether and just use hot glue. I ended up making the vest, boots, and satchel.
How to Make a Flynn Rider Costume
Materials:
- Blue vest or
- Blue dress shirt (I found mine at a thrift store)
- Sewing machine (or hot glue)
- Brass buckles or foam sheets and yellow paint
- Brad fasteners
- Hot glue
- Brown boots or
- Brown satchel or
- White long sleeve shirt
- Brown belt
- Khaki pants
Making the Vest:
Making the vest worried me the most, since it is the most recognizable piece. It ended up not being too hard, but you can always bail and buy this one instead.
To start, use a blue dress shirt as a base and cut off the sleeves (save the fabric for later). Then, use a sewing machine or hot glue to hem where you cut the material. Or since you will only be wearing it once or twice, it shouldn’t matter if you leave it unhemmed.
Then, it’s time to add buckles. But, first you need buckles to add. You can either buy some brass buckles or make them. To make them, cut foam sheets in the shape of a buckle and paint them with yellow paint. I used my Brother’s Scan and Cut to cut them out, but scissors will work too. Here is my buckle pattern (SVG, PNG).
Now you can attach the buckles. Using the leftover sleeve fabric, cut out 5 small rectangles. Sew or hot glue around the edges making sure they aren’t too wide to fit through your buckle. Then, sew or glue them on the far side of each shirt button.
Next, hot glue the top and bottom of your buckles above and below each button. You should be able to button your shirt and feed the fabric strips through each buckle. I meant to add Velcro to attach the loose end of the strip, but I forgot and it looked fine without it.
Next, add details to the shoulders. Cut the ends off of brad fasteners and hot glue them on to the shirt.
Lastly, clean up the shirt. Remove any hot glue strands and take off any buttons that aren’t covered by your buckles. Now you have a DIY Flynn Rider vest.
Making the Boots:
Once again, you can opt out and just buy costume boots. Boots are more generic and will hopefully be able to be reused in future costumes.
First, you need to get some measurements. Place your faux leather fabric on top of the shoe you plan to wear. Cut out a rectangle that covers the top of the shoe and reaches all the way to the ground on both sides and the front. Then, cut a long rectangle. The height needs to be the distance from the floor to a few inches above where you want the shoe to go. The width needs to be the circumference of your leg. Cut a semi circle in it that matches the length of the first piece you cut This is a great time to tape your pieces together and try it on before making anything permanent.
Next, put your pieces together. Duct tape the inside of the small piece to the inside of the semicircle on the bigger piece. Then, duct tape the inside of the leg part together into a cylinder. For the top few inches, duct tape on the outside instead of the inside since it will get folded over. Once you have everything in place, hot glue the seams to help hold everything together.
Now it is time to fold over the top. Fold the top couple inches over and cut a slit along both sides.
Lastly, finish off your boots by rounding the toes. I put them back on the shoes my husband would be wearing and taped the excess fabric on the front down with duct tape.
Making the Satchel:
The last thing I made for my husband’s Flynn rider costume was a satchel. I loved how it turned out and it was even functional. Once again if you can always use what you already have or buy a brown satchel.
First, cut out three pieces of faux leather fabric. Cut out one in rectangle with rounded edges on the bottom that will be the overall profile of your satchel. Then, cut another the same shape but with a rounded triangle shape on top. This will be the back piece with the top that goes over and closes the bag. Lastly, cut a long skinny rectangle that reaches all around the three sides of the bag.
Next, duct tape and glue all three pieces together. Start by duct taping the long skinny rectangle around the edge of the front piece. Then, attach the back piece in the same way. Hot glue around all the seams to make it stronger.
Lastly, add the last few details. If you want to be able to keep it closed add a piece of hook and loop fastener to the top of the inside and to the front of the bag. Then, cut out one last piece of faux leather to make the strap. Make it the same width or smaller of the side of your bag. Glue and duct tape it to the inside side of your bag. Finish off your Flynn Rider costume satchel by hot gluing a button the front.
Putting the DIY Flynn Rider Costume All Together:
Now that you have made all your Flynn Rider costume parts and pieces, it is time to put them together. Wear your DIY vest over a plain white long sleeve shirt with the sleeves rolled up. Put on a pair of khaki pants and roll the pants up. Then, put on your shoes and carefully pull your DIY boots on over them. Put a brown belt on over the vest and the satchel on across your chest. Lastly, if you want to go the extra mile shave to have the same Flynn Rider facial hair or get this wig and goatee set.
Conclusion of Making a DIY Flynn Rider Costume
I really liked how this costume turned out. My husband did get mistaken for a pirate several time on Halloween. Although, anyone who caught on to the Tangled theme immediately knew who he was supposed to be. I was afraid I wasn’t going to be able to pull off his costume since I couldn’t find a vest I liked. But, I love how my makeshift one looks. Also, several pieces can be reused. The boots will probably be able to be reused in another costume. And the kids will happily play with the satchel. What do you think? How did your Flynn Rider costume turn out?
Make sure to check out our other Tangled themed costumes. And our costumes from other years.
