• 0 items$0.00
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Hands Occupied

Colorful knitting, crochet, latch hook and macrame from craft book author & designer Heidi Gustad.

  • BLOG
    • Knitting
    • Crochet
    • Latch Hook
    • Macramé
    • Punch Needle
  • ABOUT
  • Shop
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
    • YouTube

Easy Ms. Frizzle Costume for Halloween or Comic Con

October 16, 2018 2 Comments

Make a quick and easy Ms. Frizzle costume from The Magic School Bus. Perfect for Halloween or comic con! No sewing, knitting or crocheting skills required. Click through for the how-to.
A couple years ago, when I was still working as a Teen Services Librarian, I took my teens on a field trip to Chicago’s C2E2 comic con. And as you do when you’re a librarian taking over a dozen middle and high schoolers to their first comic con, you whip up a quick take on the most iconic field trip leader of all time: Ms. Frizzle from The Magic School Bus! I’ve been sitting on this finished costume for awhile because it never felt like the right time to share, but you know what? Halloween is coming up! This costume takes advantage of yarn wigs (one of my favorite things to make in the history of ever), and it doesn’t require a huge amount of skill to complete. Plus, even though this outfit isn’t the most impressive thing I’ve ever made, I got stopped right and left at comic con for photos, and everyone knew exactly who I was. That’s a successful costume in my book! ;)

Make a quick and easy Ms. Frizzle costume from The Magic School Bus. Perfect for Halloween or comic con! No sewing, knitting or crocheting skills required. Click through for the how-to.

How To Make an Easy Ms. Frizzle Costume

Supplies for the wig
-wig base (pick one of the following, see this yarn wig tutorial for more details): worn out pair of tights, wig cap, or stocking cap
-bright orange yarn
-light orange yarn
-bobby pins
-rubber band
-scissors
-tapestry (yarn) needle

Supplies for the dress
-blue dress (you can make or buy one)
-light blue, light green, brown & white felt
-washable markers or chalk for marking felt
-tacky glue
-scissors

Make a quick and easy Ms. Frizzle costume from The Magic School Bus. Perfect for Halloween or comic con! No sewing, knitting or crocheting skills required. Click through for the how-to.

Wig directions

Make your wig according to the directions in my yarn wig tutorial, specifically following the instructions for how to make a long wig. The key to getting The Frizz’s hair right is to give her wig a center part (securing your yarn bundles all in a row down the center of the wig). Another key is to use a lighter shade of orange yarn for the front couple rows of hair, versus a darker, bright orange yarn for the rest of the wig. The wig construction for Ms. Frizzle is so easy because once you make yourself a center part, long-haired wig, you simply style the wig into a big bun with a rubber band & bobby pins, and trim a few flyaway “hairs” for effect.

Make a quick and easy Ms. Frizzle costume from The Magic School Bus. Perfect for Halloween or comic con! No sewing, knitting or crocheting skills required. Click through for the how-to.
Make a quick and easy Ms. Frizzle costume from The Magic School Bus. Perfect for Halloween or comic con! No sewing, knitting or crocheting skills required. Click through for the how-to.

Dress directions

I based my easy take on Ms. Frizzle specifically on a 2001 computer game called Magic School Bus Volcano Adventure, largely because I knew volcanoes and globes would be pretty easy to draw and cut out! :D There are so many different Ms. Frizzle outfits out there, and there are even a lot of science-print dressed to choose from if you want to stick to DIYing just the wig. If you’ve got the orange hair and a space print dress, folks will know who you’re supposed to be, AND cute little kids might even want to give you a hug or two. Speaking from my comic con experience of such kid behavior, it’s super adorable! 

Step one for the dress situation is to make or buy a blue dress. I used the Decades of Style ESP Dress pattern because it was beginner sewing-friendly and adding long sleeves with an elastic cuff was a simple modification.

Once you’ve got your dress base sorted, it’s time to get drawing! Grab your brown felt and place it right side down on your work surface. On the wrong side of your felt, draw several volcano shapes that are about 5 inches tall and cut them out. Using the volcano shapes as a guide, cut some white felt for each volcano: specifically, some smoke for the tops of your volcanoes, and some additional felt for the tops of your volcanoes, as shown in the photos. I freehanded most of them to give the dress a bit of variety (and save some time). In total, my dress had 8 volcanoes, and they all have smoke save for the two on the sleeves. Glue your cut-out volcanoes together using tacky glue and let dry.

Meanwhile, grab your light blue and green felt. With the right side of your blue felt facing down and using a small plate or lid as a stencil, trace seven circles onto your felt and cut them out. With your green felt, cut out several land mass-esque shapes to represent continents. Again, free handing will save you time if you don’t want to go for perfect accuracy. Just like with the volcanoes, glue your globes together using tacky glue and let dry.

To finish your dress, simply use tacky glue to stick your globes and volcanoes to your dress. Let dry completely before wearing. For bonus points, you could also make yourself a set of volcano earrings and shoe clips to round out the costume. In the end, just remember to have fun, and don’t forget Ms. Frizzle’s catch phrase, “Take chances; make mistakes; get messy!”

Make a quick and easy Ms. Frizzle costume from The Magic School Bus. Perfect for Halloween or comic con! No sewing, knitting or crocheting skills required. Click through for the how-to.
Make a quick and easy Ms. Frizzle costume from The Magic School Bus. Perfect for Halloween or comic con! No sewing, knitting or crocheting skills required. Click through for the how-to.

Filed Under: Halloween, Yarn Crafts Tagged With: comic con, cosplay, costume tutorial, halloween, halloween costume, magic school bus, ms frizzle, yarn wig

About Heidi

Heidi Gustad is a craft book author & content creator in love with primary colors & vintage vibes. She specializes in knitting, crochet, latch hook and macramé, and her first book, Latch Hook: 12 Projects for the Modern Maker, is out now!

Previous Post: « Picks of the Week
Next Post: Bijou Basin Ranch Shangri-La Yarn Review & Giveaway »

Reader Interactions

DID YOU LIKE THIS POST?
Visit similar articles...

  • Attempting a Giant Pom Pom CostumeAttempting a Giant Pom Pom Costume
  • Smiling Jack-o’-Lantern Knitting Chart for HalloweenSmiling Jack-o’-Lantern Knitting Chart for Halloween
  • Jack-O’-Lantern Sweater / Handmade WardrobeJack-O’-Lantern Sweater / Handmade Wardrobe
  • Picks of the WeekPicks of the Week

DON’T MISS ANOTHER UPDATE

Comments

  1. Connie

    October 8, 2019 at 11:24 pm

    You saved my cosplay. There are no good Miss frizzle wigs out there for sale. This is genius I would of never thought of using yarn. I wish I learn about this for all my littles cosplays. I do have one question though did you do her bun? Is it a standard twist or a different way?

    Reply
    • Heidi

      October 10, 2019 at 10:36 am

      Good question! I just used actual rubber bands (because yarn is stronger than human hair, ha!) to make a bun, but the yarn is so thick and voluminous, getting the bun to balance and last all day/night is the one tricky bit. I actually was wearing this costume at C2E2 a couple years ago and went to the bathroom around lunchtime to tszuj my hair. Using my phone as a mirror to see the back of my head, a lady came up to me and started screaming in my face that a bathroom isn’t an appropriate place to take pictures. I tried to explain that I was fixing my hair, but she was was like, “YEAH RIGHT!” Again, with the face screaming. 🙄

      She wasn’t there for comic con, and luckily other cosplayers were very nice to me when she stomped out of the bathroom in a huff, asking if I was okay and stuff. At least I learned that a women’s comic con bathroom is filled with folks with lots of nostalgia for the Magic School Bus who are ready to throw down over a yarn wig confrontation. 😂

      Thank you for listening to my ted talk about styling a yarn wig. Feel free to email me if you want to keep talkin’ yarn wigs: heidi-at-handsoccupied-dot-com.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Heidi Gustad from Hands Occupied / Craft Book Author and Knitting, Crochet, Latch Hook and Macrame Designer

Hi! I’m Heidi (she/her/hers), a craft book author & pattern designer specializing in knitting, crochet, latch hook & macrame. Really anything with yarn! ❤️  My work combines vintage and modern design elements, featuring bold colors and graphic motifs.

UPDATES BY EMAIL

Monthly highlights sent to your inbox.

Find Me Elsewhere, If You’re There

  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube
Latch Hook by Heidi GustadDiscover Unique Items

Footer

INSTAGRAM

handsoccupied

Yarn craft designer & author. Into intarsia knits, latch hook, color & vintage-modern style.
❤️ Email for pattern support
👇🏻 Book, Patterns, Tutorials

Heidi Gustad 🧶✂️
Sneaking in a few stitches in the shade. 😎 Sneaking in a few stitches in the shade. 😎
Another morning of filming! One of the knitting vi Another morning of filming! One of the knitting videos I’d like to release soon is a big overview of how to swatch and why - if you have any questions or favorite tips, let me know. 
.
To be honest, I want to be able to link to this video as a resource when I get angry gauge questions, so please don’t hesitate to share your best tips. Together, we can tame the knitting Karens. 😆
.
#stopswatchandblockit #handsoccupied #knitting #knittersofinstagram
A big issue I've had in the last year is putting t A big issue I've had in the last year is putting together new design work but not doing any independent releases of them. Chalk it up to anxiety, burn out, or whatever but here we are. 
.
Last week I turned 35, so in honor of that here’s 3 things: 
❤️ a picture of me at my most stylish 
💛 a little glimpse at some of the design things I've recently been working on
💙a promise that I will be releasing some of the pictured designs this year. Getting back in the swing of things after taking it easy is hard 😆 - wish me luck!
Like a riding a bike! June guarded the neighborhoo Like a riding a bike! June guarded the neighborhood while I shot a new crochet tutorial today. With any luck, editing will go smoothly & I’ll be posting new videos to YouTube regularly soon! Got any requests for tutorial topics? 
.
#handsoccupied #crochet #studiodog #crochettutorial
This yoke deserved a mid-blocking closeup, don’t This yoke deserved a mid-blocking closeup, don’t you think? ❤️💛💙
.
Pattern: modified #soldotnacrop sweater / yarn: various from my stash
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Copyright © 2022 / Foodie Pro Theme On Genesis Framework / Branding by Ink + Mortar
All Site & Shop Policies / Privacy Policy / Cookie Policy