Easy DIY Costume: Link for Kids

One of the hardest things for geeky parents, or parents with geeky kids, to do is Halloween costume shopping. Quite often we find ourselves looking for a costume that hasn’t been made or is only available through specialty outlets that charge an arm and a leg for their products. So what are we to do? Do we tell our kids that they have to pick from what our local costume store has? Do we pay outlandish fees to order their favorite character online? I say we don’t necessarily have to do either.

My son decided that he wanted to be Link from the Legend of Zelda this year for Halloween (Yes, I cried a little). The only costume that I found was a little out of our price range and it was for the Skyward Sword Link when he would make a much better Toon Link (Wind Waker, Phantom Hourglass, etc.) As a huge fan of the series, and a dad who loves to make his son happy, I wasn’t about to make him pick someone else. Too many times from my childhood, there wasn’t costumes for the characters I wanted, and, since I understood his dilemma first-hand, I wanted to help him acquire this costume (That is not to say that parents that don’t understand first-hand and have let their kids pick another costume are bad parents or inferior in any way).

Fortunately for you, I have done all of the research into how to make this costume and I am going to share it with you in this article!

The first challenge with making this costume was finding all of the necessary parts. Fortunately, the Toon Link outfit is relatively simple, so it didn’t require many parts. In one trip to Wal-Mart, I was able to find everything but his sword and shield. I have put links to each of the parts that we bought in the article to make your shopping as simple as possible. I tried to keep everything to Amazon, so you can order as many pieces in one shopping cart as possible.

So these are the parts you will need to buy:

1. A long-sleeved, medium-green shirt that is two-three sizes too large
2. A long-sleeved chartreuse (yellow-green) shirt that fits correctly
3. White tights (yes, likely from the girls section, even for boys)
4. Brown, shin-high boots
5. Link cap (optional)
6. Brown belt
7. Sword and shield

Once you have all of your materials, you will only need scissors, a needle, and a little thread to put it all together. Here are the steps you need to follow:

Place the medium green, over-sized shirt with the arms out wide.

Cut the sleeves off just outside the seam.

Cut a small V out of the collar of the shirt as seen below.

This part is a little more tricky, but if you have any experience sewing (or a mother who does in my case) then this shouldn’t be too hard. Fold the sleeves up to the appropriate length, and make a small suture at the seem. You may have to have your child try on the shirt to find the right length here.

This is where you are left with two options: If you are particularly creative, or want to shave off a few bucks, you can make the hat from the long sleeves. I will tell you how to do this in theory and show you the route I took.

Lay the sleeves out length-ways.

Flay them open at the seam.

Place them together and fold or cut the end into a V.

Fold the top in as pictured below, and sew the two pieces together.

If you aren’t feeling that creative, you can order the Link hat for children below. I went with the latter option.

[amazon template=iframe image&asin=B00JLWLFL6]

Note: The hat I bought is out of stock frequently so I linked to another one below. The one that I bought is 10 inches around and is a little large for my 3-year-old son. The one below says it is 24 inches, so it may fit older kids, but you’ll want to do some measuring to see if it will fit your child.

[amazon template=iframe image&asin=B00KF60FOK]

There are a few options for a sword and shield, including foam Master Sword and Hylian Shield. If you are a purist though, these might not work for the specific Toon Link you are making. I had a Disney Store in my area, so I bought a Prince Phillip sword and shield combo from Sleeping Beauty. The cross adds a nice Christian feel to the outfit and also blends modern and classic Link together pretty nicely. You can purchase either below:

[amazon template=iframe image&asin=B00A29UMPC][amazon template=iframe image&asin=B00A7WJNNQ]

Once completed, the costume should look like this.

As you can see, my son thoroughly enjoys it. We have to add a picture to send a message to Ganondorf, showing that he means business.

Below is all of the links that I could find for these pieces. You can click the picture to view the item in Amazon or click the add to cart to… well, add it to your cart. The items I bought are from Wal-Mart, and you may be able to pick them up at your local store, or you should be able to buy them online (as long as there is stock). Please note: most of the items below are not the same as the ones I bought, but they should work.

With the shirts, you should be able to order both the over-large, medium-green and right-sized chartreuse shirts by clicking the picture below and adding them both to your cart. The colors may look off in the pictures, but if you click the pictures, you will be able to choose your color and sizing information before ordering.

[amazon template=iframe image&asin=B00MY8WSCO][amazon template=iframe image&asin=B00JLWLFL6][amazon template=iframe image&asin=B00A29UMPC][amazon template=iframe image&asin=B00A7WJNNQ][amazon template=iframe image&asin=B00480JLQC][amazon template=iframe image&asin=B00LPBU6PW][amazon template=iframe image&asin=B004479AZ6][amazon template=iframe image&asin=B00KF60FOK]

Since my son wouldn’t likely wear a wig or ears anyway, I didn’t include them. I haven’t found a good kid’s wig or ears yet, so that might take a little research if you want to include them.

If you would just like to forgo this process and buy the Skyward Sword-style costume, you can use the link below:

[amazon template=iframe image&asin=B006ZAUVFI]

You can also go as a matching Link with the adult costume below:

[amazon template=iframe image&asin=B007USGK04]

If you use this guide to make your child a Toon Link costume, post it to our page or in our Facebook group. We would love to see how it turned out! I hope that, if you choose to pursue this project, it turns out as well for you as it did for me, and that your child truly enjoys it. Blessings and happy Halloween!