A DIY very hungry caterpillar costume for adults is a green top and leggings with six overlapping felt circles down the front, a red beanie for the head, and two bendable antennae. Allow about 30 minutes with clothes you already own, or about 2 hours with felt. We do not make an adult caterpillar costume, but our Bug Antenna Headband finishes the head in one step, and the Boys Caterpillar Costume covers the kids in your group.
What does a DIY very hungry caterpillar costume for adults need?
Four parts: a green body, a red head, two antennae, and a base you can sit down in. We borrowed the color plan from our own kids' caterpillar costumes, which put a green body under a red hood:
- The body. A green long-sleeve shirt or hoodie and green leggings or pants, with 6 felt circles on the front as the segments.
- The head. A red beanie, with 2 felt eyes sewn or glued on the front.
- The antennae. 2 pipe cleaners twisted through the top of the beanie, or an antenna headband.
- The legs, if you want them. Short brown or tan felt tabs down each side of the shirt.
Cut the circles from two or three greens, not one. The book's pictures are cut-paper collage, which is many layered shapes, and a body in mixed greens echoes that better than one flat sheet of felt.
How long does a DIY adult caterpillar costume take?
About 30 minutes with clothes you already own, about 2 hours with no-sew felt, or about 3 hours if you stitch the circles on by hand. We updated this guide for grown-ups, the readers our pages already reach most. Between April 22 and October 11, 2026, our pages appeared about 9,600 times in US Google web results for searches containing "caterpillar" plus "costume," "outfit," or "dress," and about 75 in every 100 of those appearances came from a search that also said adult, women, men, or ladies, or said DIY, homemade, make, or how to. That counts where we already show, not total demand.
| Build | Time | Sewing | What it needs |
|---|---|---|---|
| From your closet | About 30 minutes | None | Green top, green leggings, red beanie, 2 pipe cleaners |
| No-sew felt | About 2 hours, plus glue curing time | None | The closet build, plus 3 sheets of felt and fabric glue |
| Stitched felt | About 3 hours | Hand stitching | The felt build, plus thread and a needle |
How do you build the body so it lasts a whole evening?
Use a shirt you already wear and keep every segment flat to the fabric. Nothing sticks out to catch on a car seat or a door frame. Four steps:
- Cut six circles about 6 inches across from three 9-by-12-inch sheets of craft felt, two circles per sheet, in two or three shades of green.
- Lay the shirt flat and place the circles down the front from collar to hip, each overlapping the one above by about 1.5 inches, so the six cover roughly 28 inches.
- Use safety pins to hold each circle through the felt and the shirt front only, keeping the back of the shirt clear, then fix the top edge with fabric glue or a running stitch. Give the glue the full curing time on its label, then take the pins out before you put the shirt on.
- Do a sitting test a day or two before. If the segments bunch at your waist, move the bottom two circles up an inch.
Glued felt can lift where the shirt creases at your waist. If you plan to dance, or sit through a long dinner, stitch the bottom edge of each circle too. When it needs a wash, do it by hand in cold water and let it air dry, and check the glue's label for how long to wait before that first wash.
How do you keep the head and antennae up?
Anchor the antennae in the beanie's knit, or put them on a headband, and keep them short enough to stand up on their own. Two ways to do it:
- Pipe cleaners through the beanie. Poke two 12-inch pipe cleaners up through the top of a red beanie about 2 inches apart, twist each one around the knit, bend the top inch into a curl, and tuck the cut ends inside so they do not poke your scalp.
- An antenna headband. Wear it alone or with the rest of the build, and the beanie stays free of holes.
Our Bug Antenna Headband is the no-pipe-cleaner route: black velvet antennae with bendable wire inside, so you bend in whatever curl you like. One size fits most adults, ages 14 and up. It comes as a single headband or in packs of 2, 3, or 4, so a group can order the antennae in one go. Velvet does not go in the sink; spot clean it.
Can a group or family wear it together?
Yes, and the book has already cast it for you. On Saturday the caterpillar eats chocolate cake, an ice-cream cone, a pickle, a slice of Swiss cheese, a slice of salami, a lollipop, cherry pie, a sausage, a cupcake, and a slice of watermelon, according to Wikipedia's summary of the book. Cast one caterpillar and one butterfly for the ending, and everyone else picks something off that menu.
| Role | What they wear |
|---|---|
| The caterpillar | The felt build above |
| The butterfly | A pair of butterfly wings and an antenna headband |
| A food | A cheese, ice cream cone, or pickle headband on any plain shirt |
| The little caterpillar | A kids' caterpillar costume |
Swiss cheese is on the Saturday list, and our Adult Cheese Headband stands in for it: a woven-fabric wedge in bright yellow, one size for most adults and teens. A damp cloth cleans it.
For the ice-cream cone, the Ice Cream Cone Headband for Adults is a plush topper shaped like a scooped ice cream cone, with a molded waffle-cone base, on a flexible headband. One size, spot clean only.
The pickle comes right after the ice-cream cone on that list. Our Green Pickle Mini Hat Headband is a bumpy plush pickle about 8 inches tall and 3 inches wide on a flexible headband, one size for adults, sold singly or in packs of 2, 4, 6, or 12.
Kids in the group can skip the felt, because this is the part we do make. Our Boys Caterpillar Costume is a bright green all-in-one tunic with layered body segments and an attached red hood, 100% polyester, in five sizes for ages 3 to 14. For babies and toddlers, our Boys Caterpillar Plush Tabard Costume is a green plush tabard and a red hood with bendable antennae, in four sizes from 6 months to 6 years. Wash the tunic by hand only and air dry it flat; wash the tabard by hand only and lay it flat or hang it to air dry. As a brand, we run over 500,000 quality checks a year. Other creatures for small people are in our kids' animal costumes.
If the group outgrows one picture book, our Halloween costumes for groups guide has other themes, and group and family costumes has matching sets. If the party is tonight, our last-minute Halloween costumes guide covers the fastest routes, and the animal costumes hub has the rest of our animals.
Where does the costume come from?
The costume comes from a 1969 picture book that Penguin Random House reported in March 2021 had been translated into 75 languages and sold more than 50 million copies worldwide. The illustrations are collage, and the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art describes the artist's signature method: acrylic painted on white tissue paper, then cut and used in a collage. Layered shapes are the reason we tell you to mix your greens.
Dressing up for the book is not our invention. The museum's Very Hungry Caterpillar Day on March 29, 2026, asked visitors to come dressed in their favorite Caterpillar colors, and a green top with felt circles answers that invitation.
Frequently asked questions
How do you make a very hungry caterpillar costume for adults?
Put on a green top and green leggings, glue or stitch six felt circles in two or three greens down the front, and top it with a red beanie and two antennae. It takes about 2 hours with felt and about 30 minutes from your closet.
What is a last-minute hungry caterpillar costume I can make tonight?
Wear a green hoodie and green leggings, add a red beanie, and twist two pipe cleaners through the top for antennae. Tape a few green paper circles to the front if you have 10 more minutes.
How do you dress up as the hungry caterpillar as a family or group?
Cast it from the book: one caterpillar, one butterfly, and everyone else as a food the caterpillar eats on Saturday, such as cheese, an ice cream cone, or a pickle. A food headband on a plain shirt takes no making at all.
Do you sell an adult hungry caterpillar costume?
No. We make caterpillar costumes in kids' sizes only, from 6 months to age 14. For an adult, build the felt version above and finish it with our antenna headband, or go as the butterfly with a pair of wings and the same headband.
Which hungry caterpillar costume fits a toddler?
Go by age. For babies and toddlers, the Boys Caterpillar Plush Tabard Costume is a green plush tabard with a red hood, sized from 6 months to 6 years. For ages 3 to 14, the Boys Caterpillar Costume is an all-in-one tunic.
How do you wash a DIY caterpillar costume?
Wash a felt-built shirt by hand in cold water and let it air dry flat. Wait the time on the fabric glue's label before the first wash, and take the antennae and any headbands off first.
