TUTORIAL: Goomba - Part 4

Welcome to the fourth and final part of my Goomba costume tutorial. It's like the never-ending journey, eh? Thanks for hanging in there! If you' d like to see the rest of the tutorial, please click the links for Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

The good news is that you've already made all the pieces you'll need for this part of the tutorial. All we have to do is put the pieces together.

It may help to take a look at the structure of the costume so we know where we're headed.

Here's a picture of the finished costume. Starting with the back half (from left to right in the photo): Goomba body (plain) -> foam insert -> Goomba body (with strips of loop Velcro). The front half of the cosume: Goomba body (with straps sewn onto it) -> foam insert -> Goomba body (face).

1. Sew the back half of the costume.

Lay the Goomba body with strips of loop Velcro sewn onto it such that the Velcro strips face up. Lay the plain Goomba body on top, right side facing down. TIP: The Velcro strips should be in the middle of the felt "sandwich."


Pin the edges, leaving ample room to turn and insert the foam body shape. If you click on the photo, you can see where I used double pins to mark where I stopped and started sewing. TIP: Leave your opening at the bottom. It's easier to close a straight seam than a curved seam.


Sew the body pieces together. Remember to leave a hole for turning.

Turn your newly-sewn Goomba right side out. (Sorry about the lack of photos here. I was so anxious to be done that I forgot about taking pictures.) Insert foam shape. You can either hand-sew the opening closed using a slipstitch, or you can do things the lazy/impatient way like I did. Did I mention I was ready to be done? I sewed the hole closed using my sewing machine. I used my fingers to push the foam out of the way and stitched really close to the edge of the fabric. TIP: Regardless of whether you sew the hole closed by hand or using a machine, pin the hole closed before sewing. This way you're not fighting with the foam insert while you work.

The back half of your Goomba costume should be done!

2. Sew the front half of the costume.
Repeat the same steps as for the back half of the costume.
NOTE: Avoid stitching over the straps or the eyebrows. Fold the straps down onto the body of the Goomba before pinning your pieces together.


Also fold in the eyebrows. Again, I forgot to take a picture. So your Goomba's eyebrows should NOT be sticking out like mine are in the photo above. Bend the eyebrows inward so that they aren't hanging off the edge. You'll reshape them later.

When you pin your body pieces together, you should have a fabric "sandwich" with the Goomba's facial features and the straps in the middle (right sides facing each other).

Follow the same instructions for finishing the back half of the costume: pin, sew, leave hole for turning, turn, insert foam, close hole.

Bend the eyebrows back into position and you're done! Toss on a brown hat, tan pans, brown shoes, and voila! That's one good lookin' Goomba.