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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 (she/her) is a craft book author & designer specializing in yarn crafts. Her work combines vintage and modern design elements, prioritizing color and graphic motifs. Her first book, Latch Hook: 12 Projects for the Modern Maker, is out now.

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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

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

Hi! I’m Heidi (she/her/hers), and I’ve been helping yarn crafters untangle various techniques on the internet since 2010. I got my start here, as a blogger, and since then I’ve shared more than a few tutorials here and on YouTube as I’ve grown as a pattern designer. 🧶 

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Heidi Gustad 🧶 knitting & yarn crafts

handsoccupied

Knitting & yarn crafts designer 🧶
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Stay up-to-date 💌 & shop new patterns ⤵️

POV: Showing you how my new Bevelled Tank pattern POV: Showing you how my new Bevelled Tank pattern fits with no ease vs. 4” of positive ease. There’s a bit more length to the cotton (brighter color) sample, but both are cropped and feature shoulder seams designed to sit an inch back onto the shoulder instead of on top, giving it a little swing. Length is easily adjustable for folks looking for less of a crop. 
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Pattern: Bevelled Tank by @handsoccupied for @pompommag x @hobbii_yarn summer 2024. Available for free from Hobbii at the 🔗 in my profile.
Yarn pictured: @kelbournewoolens Skipper and Camper. 
Dress form is adjusted to a 36” chest and ~5’3”ish in height. 
Human has a 40” chest and is 5’5”.
Both skirts are vintage.
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#pompomxhobbiisummer2024 #handsoccupied #intarsia #handmade #knitting #colorwork
Let’s talk about fit and ease! . During the Beve Let’s talk about fit and ease!
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During the Bevelled Tank design process for @pompommag, I knit 2 samples using 2 different @KelbourneWoolens yarns. One was in Skipper (100% cotton, second photo) and the other was in Camper (100% 2 ply wool). The Skipper sample was knit for a 36” bust, which measures in at 40” with 4” of positive ease. And I knit the Camper Sample for my 40” bust with a 44” finished measurement. (BTW, I’m 5’5” for folks that find that measurement helpful in visualizing fit.)
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Based on the size chart for the Bevelled Tank, that means I knit one size 3 sample and one size 4. As designed, I conveniently fit a size 4 as intended with 4” of positive ease. When I wear the 3, there is no ease at all because the garment and my body are both 40” in size. Comparing the 2 garments, you can see how the fiber content (cotton vs. wool) and fit (no ease vs. 4” of positive ease) makes a difference in the look and feel of the finished garment. 
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These samples are a great way to compare what ease looks like on different bodies. While I can fit both a size 3 and 4, the garment with no ease feels more like pajamas or a bralette when I wear it. On the other hand, when I wear the one with 4” of positive ease, I feel comfortable enough to wear it to work, even as a crop top. Plus, it leaves me with enough room to layer it with a nice button down if I’m not feeling the cropped look one day. 
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I’m curious - how would you style this tank? Would you modify it with a few stockinette rows for added length? I’m so curious now that this pattern is finally out in the world. :) 
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#pompomxhobbiisummer2024 #bevelledtank #handsoccupied #knitting #intarisa #handmade #kelbournewoolens #croppedsweater #summerknits
After a 6 month hiatus, I am happy to say I’m ba After a 6 month hiatus, I am happy to say I’m back with a brand new pattern in 9 sizes, and it’s FREE as part of @pompommag x @hobbii_yarn’s summer design collection! (Link is in my bio.)
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In my December newsletter, I announced that I was soliciting test knitters for a pattern that had originally been selected for the summer ’24 issue of Pom Pom Quarterly magazine. However, the magazine ceased publication after its spring ’24 issue, leaving in-progress designs unpublished. (It happens.) As a result, I’d begun the long process of editing, testing, and photographing the pattern for independent release through the Hands Occupied pattern shop and Ravelry.
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Before I was done with that process, Pom Pom Quarterly’s former editors reached out with an exciting proposal for the pattern. Post-magazine, they’ve begun to partner with yarn companies to produce high quality pattern collections. They wanted to include designs from the would-be current issue of Pom Pom Quarterly in a new collection for Hobbii yarn, including my Bevelled Tank. I worked with the same technical editors I would have for the magazine on this one, and as you can see from the photos, Pom Pom’s team did an amazing job of styling the garment to the beautiful standards they’re known for.
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You can learn more about the pattern on my blog and get the free pattern from Hobbii yarn - links to both in my profile. I’ll post sizing info in the comments for quick reference too. 🧶
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#pompomxhobbiisummer2024 #knitting #intarsia #sponsored #colorworkknitting 
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Photos: @dianascarrunz 
Model: @angel.jade_
Here’s a nice throwback for you: my take on a vi Here’s a nice throwback for you: my take on a vintage knitting pattern from 1938 called the Fernlace Pullover. A pattern so nice, I knit it twice.
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Yellow version 💛: knit with Despondent Dyes’ Vintage Vixen Sport after attending a @squidneyknits vintage knitting retreat in 2019 & learning *so much*. Paired with a self-drafted circle skirt pattern. 
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Blue version 💙: knit with @eweeweyarns Ewe So Sporty in Sky Blue. Paired with the 1940s Boardwalk Duet sewing pattern from @decades_of_style 
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Head to my stories for 🔗🔗 to the handmade wardrobe blog posts I wrote about each take on the Fernlace Pullover, working with a vintage pattern, where to find vintage patterns (including the one I used), & some thoughts on sizing. 
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Image descriptions available in alt text. 
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#handsoccupied #handmadewardrobe #fernlacepullover #vintageknitting #vintageknittingpatterns #knitting_inspiration
Frogging is a word in the knitting world that mean Frogging is a word in the knitting world that means to rip out your knitting. It’s called frogging because frogs say “ribbit,” and when you’re tearing out your knitting, you will “rip it” out, and that sounds like ribbit. No really. 🐸 Did you know this fun fact? 
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P.S. I did like this design concept, but to make the pattern more knitter friendly as well as more wearable, I am making some tweaks to the construction. Excited to share when it’s ready! 🥰🧶
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Yarn: @blueskyfibers Woolstok North in Morning Frost & Highland Fleece 
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#handsoccupied #knitting #frogging #blueskyfibers #knittersofinstagram #blueskymakers #knittingvocabulary #bsfmakers #knitdesign
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