How to Make a DIY Woody Costume for Toy Story Cosplay or Halloween

Tools and materials:

• Long sleeve buttoned-up yellow shirt
• White t-shirt
• Black paint
• Sponge brush
• Gold paint - optional
• Red and black marker
• Sheriff's badge
• Hot glue
• Felt
• Cowboy hat
• Toy gun
• Boots
• Red bandana

1. Make the checkered pattern

A Woody character costume wouldn’t be complete without the trademark yellow shirt with red squares. Simply use a ruler (or a hanger, like me) to draw vertical and horizontal lines across the shirt. Make sure to do this straight and evenly. 

Tip: This did take me a while, but you don’t have to be so particular with it. After all, it is just a fun costume! 

2. Cut the white t-shirt

Now, cut your white t-shirt up the center, and cut out the sleeves. This is for the vest part. 

Round out the opening of the two front sides, so it looks more like a vest. 

3. Add the cow spots

Using either black fabric or acrylic paint, sponge black cow spots on the DIY Woody costume. 

Do this randomly around the vest. 

4. Paint the sheriff's badge

This step is optional, but it really brings the whole costume together nicely. I bought this badge from the dollar store, but you can find it anywhere, really. It looked a bit rusted, so I decided to go over it with some gold paint to add some shimmer and let it pop out. 

I ended up putting two coats on it. It didn’t look smooth, but that’s ok; it’s just a costume. 

5. Make the buttons

Cut three medium-sized circles from the extra fabric from the sleeves. Then, glue these onto the button panel. 

6. Create the gun holster

Cut a rectangular piece from your felt, fold it over the toy gun. Measure around the outside of the toy gun and trim off the excess. 

Hot glue the raw edges into place to create the perfect little pouch for your women’s Woody costume. 

To get it to hang from your belt, cut an extra piece of felt and create a loop. 

Hot glue the bottom of the loop to the pouch, and once dry, you’re able to slide it through your belt. 

7. Put on your cowboy boots

There's a snake in my boot! For a fun little extra, write “ANDY” on the bottom of your cowboy boots. 

DIY Woody costume

That’s practically it! Of course, you should add all the little extras so that your Woody from Toy Story costume looks complete. This includes the red bandana around the neck and a brown cowboy hat.

I loved making this DIY Woody costume, and it’s really the ultimate women’s Woody costume for Halloween. It’s so cheerful and playful, don’t you think? Thanks for joining me, and let me know what you think in the comments below.