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My kids absolutely LOVE to dress up for Halloween and every day pretend play, so I try to pick a DIY Halloween costume that goes with their current interests. This year, they really loved the Lego Movie. This Emmet costume and Batman made the perfect duo and it was so fun to put these together for them.
I saw a tutorial to make capes out of t-shirts, so I thought… Wouldn’t it be awesome if I could make an entire Batman costume out of a black men’s t-shirt? Then my kids could be Batman and Emmet from the Lego Movie for Halloween this year.
Working with t-shirts for masks worked better in theory than reality, but I found a work-around that turned out great. These DIY Lego Movie Emmet and Batman Costumes are pretty easy to throw together quickly even if you’re a procrastinator, as long as you have all the supplies.
How to Make a DIY Lego Movie Emmet Costume
Let’s start with the base.
You’ll need:
• A blue button up shirt with a collar. (I bought mine at Old Navy.) You can also use an Oxford Shirt.
• Orange pants (We bought these athletic “swishy” pants at Osh Kosh or you can use sweatpants.)
When I choose a base for my costumes, I try to find clothing items that can be worn again and that will be somewhat warm when worn without a jacket.
Emmet’s Construction Worker Vest
For Emmet’s vest you’ll need:
• A small, plain orange t-shirt. I bought these for $1.99 at Michael’s on sale.
• Silver duct tape. Also bought at Michael’s for $3.99
I looked at a photo of Emmet and drew on the belt, then used the duct tape to make the vest look just like Emmet’s. I used a sharpie, but you could also use fabric paint.
The Piece of Resistance
• Foam Poster Board
• Red paint
• Exacto knife
• Industrial Strength Sticky Back Velcro
I couldn’t find my ruler, so I used an index card to measure the foam board into 4 equal sections. Then I added a small 1 inch “tab” to the end. Use the index card to measure down from the top of the foam board and make a square as wide as the first section. Use an exacto knife to “score” all of the interior lines being careful not to cut the whole way through. Cut the excess foam board off. Fold up your box and secure with masking tape. Paint it red.
After it dries, use the velcro to attach the Piece of Resistance to the back of Emmet’s vest.
Additional Accessories:
• A hard hat (My husband happened to have a red one. They also sell them at Home Depot.)
• Emmet’s name badge. Either print and laminate or put into a name badge holder.
And that’s all there is to it for the DIY Lego Movie Emmet Costume. Now, on to Batman. Batman is an iconic superhero who just so happens to also be in the Lego Movie. So this costume will definitely do double duty in your dress up bin.
How to Make a DIY Batman Costume
The base for this costume is a pair of black pants and a batman t-shirt we already had. They have some pretty neat character hoodies at BJ’s (including Batman and WildStyle) for $16.99- so you could go that route and not even need to buy the mask, but I digress.
For the accessories you’ll need to make a cape and a mask.
Supplies You’ll Need:
• 2 black men’s t-shirts
• Yellow, Black, and Glow in the Dark Fabric Paint (or just go with Glow in the Dark)
• 1 piece of black felt
• Sticky back velcro
How to make the mask:

Cut the bottom off of one of the t-shirts and then cut it in half so you have one long strip of fabric. There are two ways you can attach the felt mask to the t-shirt material.
1. The no-sew way is to use sticky back velcro at each side of the mask with a bit in the center.
2. Or if your sewing needles and thread aren’t MIA you can hand sew it together or use a sewing machine.
How to make the cape:
Cut the back off the second men’s t-shirt, but make sure to leave the neck and a small strip of fabric from the front of the shirt in place. It will look like this:

If you don’t already have a Batman t-shirt you can draw the Batman logo on a plain black or grey shirt with fabric paint. My shirt already had a logo, so I embellished it with a utility belt. I added Glow-in-the-Dark fabric paint to make the logo and utility belt stand out. Then my 4 year old proceeded to walk across the table and smeared it all up before it was dry. So, I wiped off all of the original fabric paint, leaving behind a thin blackish yellow layer and redid the details with just glow-in-the-dark paint. I also added muscles. It turned out just as good as the original.

There you have it! An adorable duo of pop culture relevant DIY kid costumes that are pretty easy to throw together for Halloween or just everyday dress up fun.
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The Unofficial Guide to Learning with LEGO
