ROAAAR!!

* "Whadda they got that I ain't got?"
~ "Courage"
* "You can say that again!  a hahaha"

How can you not just LOVE the Cowardly Lion.  He's so cute.  :-)
And what's a lion without his giant mane?

It starts with a stretchy hood pattern.  Most costumes have a somewhat loose fitting hood and that's NOT what you want for something with so much weight.  It needs to fit snugly and be firm on the dancers head so it doesn't move too much.

I used this pattern:

Once the hood is assembled, you can start adding on the "fur."  Remember this stuff?

Toss it into a bag, and mix it up.  Then pull out small handfulls with a good mix of each type of yarn and ribbon.

Spread each section of the yarn flat on your hood and stitch across the center of the bunch.

It doesn't take very many rows.

 

Even with a single layer of yarn and goodies in each row, you'll find that they're VERY full.

When he's all furry, you'll probably need to spend some time giving him a hair cut.  Trim any pieces that are especially long.  Then sweep the front back, so it doesn't end up in your dancers eyes, and sew the ears on through the yarn so it stays back. 

Here's Mr. Lion before he has ears:

RAWR!

All finished and modeled by my daughter, Baylie (Hey, I never claimed my children were normal!  lol)

And here's the whole look (Note, the actual cast member wearing this costume is a few years older/taller than Bay.)

Oh, wait...Cowardly....Got it...