DIY Jessie Toy Story Costume

This year for Halloween I was determined to do a family costume for the four of us and Toy Story seemed like a perfect choice! We grew up loving the Toy Story films ourselves and our girls both enjoy the films as well. So it only seemed natural that a DIY Jessie Toy Story costume would be my pick!

Find out how I put together my DIY Jessie costume at a fraction of the cost of hiring one!

DIY TOY STORY JESSIE COSTUME

Homemade costumes are not always a cheaper option, once you add in all the accessories and supplies. In this case, it was definitely a cheaper option as I already had most of the items already!

With a couple of inexpensive add ons and DIY materials, my Jessie DIY costume came together in an afternoon, ready for Halloween party fun!

Check out these other costume ideas:

HOW TO MAKE A DIY JESSIE TOY STORY COSTUME

Making this Jessie Toy Story costume DIY was an affordable choice mostly because I had a lot of the essentials already!

However, even if you don’t, you can likely get most of them cheap anyway!

What You Need

White button-up collared shirt
Blue jeans
Cowgirl hat
Cowgirl boots
1M cow print fabric
1/2M yellow fabric
Red marker
Belt with a large buckle
Pencil
Needle and thread
Scissors
Optional: Red wig

Making Your DIY Toy Story Jessie Costume

I used several items from my wardrobe to create this costume and I wanted to be able to wear them again afterwards, so my DIY Jessie costume included a few short-term hacks!

How to make Jessie's chaps from Toy Story

How To Make The Cow Print Chaps:

Place your jeans on a flat surface and trace the shape onto the back of the cow print fabric with your pencil, stopping near the top of the thigh.
Cut out the shape for each leg from the cow print fabric
Hand stitch the chaps into place on your jeans.

How to make DIY chaps for Jessie costume — Use your jeans as a template for your chaps

Note: I did not want to ruin my jeans so I only stitched the top and bottom of the chaps onto my jeans and a couple of stitches up each side for extra reinforcement. This way you can easily remove them later to wear your jeans like normal.

How To Make a DIY Jessie Shirt:

Place your yellow fabric over the top of your white shirt and trace the outline of the yellow panel. I referred to images from the Toy Story film for this.
Trim your yellow panel to size and make any adjustments needed by lining up against your shirt.
Add decorative detail around bottom and use a red marker to add patterns.
Stitch into place at shoulders and sides. I left the bottom unstitched to avoid it pulling too tight.
Cut cuffs from your yellow fabric to go around your shirt cuffs.
Decorate with patterns using your red pen.
Stitch into place on shirt cuffs.

How to make Jessie's western shirt — Use your collared shirt to make a template for Jessie’s western shirt decoration.

Note: My DIY Jessie western shirt was not the ideal style but I made it work. I also made sure I can remove the yellow panels easily to wear the shirt again in future, so there is no real need to purchase a new shirt if you already have one.

DIY Toy Story Jessie costume — Draw on your pattern with a red marker and stitch into place

Accessorising Your Jessie Costume

The rest of my costume was really easy to put together.

I already have red hair so I was able to skip the wig and do a side plait of my hair. Otherwise, you can do the same with an inexpensive red wig instead.

My cowgirl hat was not as red as the one Jessie wears, however, it cost me $8 from a local discount variety store and was an absolute bargain as it is actually pretty good quality for a costume hat.

The cowgirl boots I wore were in my wardrobe already, purchased during my girl’s trip to Nashville a couple of years back.

It was the first time I’d worn them since I got home…

The belt was perfect and did not cost a thing as I borrowed it from my sister.

If you don’t already have a belt with a big buckle, and can’t find anyone to lend you one, consider making your own buckle with aluminium foil and cardboard instead.

I kept my make-up simple, as Jessie does not really wear makeup.

If you don’t have the basics already, head to the local second-hand or thrift shop and see what you can find!

Extra Touches

If you wanted to go the extra mile, you could pair your DIY Jessie costume with some fun accessories such as a lasso made from a length of rope.

I did take one of the kid’s toy horses with me to the party but ended up leaving it in the car to avoid carrying it around, but a ride on hobby horse would be a hilarious extra touch to your Disney costume.

And of course, dressing up the rest of the family to match for a Toy Story themed costume is absolutely a fun option too!

DIY jessie toy story costume for a halloween party.

Final Thoughts: Jessie From Toy Story Costume

This Jessie was one of my favourite DIY costumes, especially with the rest of the family dressed up too. It was easy and fairly cheap to put together, with is always a nice bonus!

Planning a Toy Story party? Check out loads more ideas here: