Alright, so I decided to make a Philadelphia Eagles SWOOP costume. Let me tell you, it was a journey!
Getting Started
First, I gathered all my materials. I knew I needed a lot of felt. I’m talking yards of the stuff – dark green, white, black, and a bit of gray. I also grabbed some sturdy cardboard, hot glue, and a sewing machine, because, let’s be real, I wanted this thing to last.
The Head
The head was the biggest challenge, no pun intended. I started by shaping the cardboard into a basic bird head shape, using lots of tape and prayers. It looked pretty rough at first, like a weird modern art project.
Then, I carefully cut out the felt pieces, using the cardboard as a rough guide. I remember constantly double-checking everything, because felt isn’t exactly cheap, and I didn’t want to mess it up. I started hot gluing the felt to the cardboard, piece by piece. It was slow going, and my fingers definitely felt the burn a few times.
The Body
The body was a bit easier. I basically made a giant green tunic. I used an old t-shirt as a pattern, just made it way bigger. Sewing the felt was…interesting. It’s thick stuff, so my little sewing machine was definitely working overtime.
- Cut a large tunic shape.
- Sew the sides, leaving armholes.
- Added tail feathers by layering felt.
The Wings
For the wings, I cut out large wing shapes from the dark green felt and added some white and black accents. I sewed these onto the back of the tunic, making sure they were nice and secure. No one wants a droopy-winged Eagle!
The Final Touches
I added some big, googly eyes (because SWOOP has amazing eyes!), and I made a beak out of yellow felt stuffed with some scrap fabric. Then, for the feet, I just cut out some simple claw shapes from black felt and glued them onto some old sneakers.
Wearing It!
Putting it all on was…an experience. It’s bulky, to say the least, and definitely warm. But, man, did it look awesome! I felt like a true mascot. I even practiced my SWOOP moves in the mirror. It was a lot of work, but totally worth it to see the final result.
