DIY Plague Doctor Costume with Free Pattern

Craft your own creepy, medieval-style DIY plague doctor costume with our free printable pattern! It’s perfect for Halloween or last-minute cosplay magic!

Create a hauntingly authentic bubonic plague doctor costume with this free printable pattern. Craft your own medieval-style mask and cloak for a DIY Halloween masterpiece.

Every year, my kids challenge me to create unique DIY costumes and this year was no exception! One year, it was a functioning Demogorgon mask.

Another year, I found myself crafting Mario and Luigi go kart costumes. I’ve even made costumes for Animal, Beeker, and a whole family of Angry Bird costumes!

This year they wanted full-on bubonic plague vibes. So here we are—with a DIY plague doctor costume that’s hauntingly cool, just the right amount of creepy, and surprisingly easy to make!

Too busy to make this right away? Pin it for later! Pin this post to your favorite board on Pinterest and it will be there when you’re ready!

Let’s be real—when you’ve lived through a global pandemic, dressing up as a medieval plague doctor for Halloween kind of hits differently. With its eerie beak, black cloak, and historical flair, this plague doctor mask is a throwback to the 17th century, but way more fun and less deadly.

Plague Doctor History

• Plague doctors were medical professionals who treated people for the bubonic plague.
• They worked in the middle ages, during the Black Death of the 17th and 18th centuries.
• Plague doctor attire included: beaked masks, a wooden cane, leather hat, black cloak, and leather boots.
• The full-face mask was a kind of respirator that housed aromatic substances, like lavendar, to counter the smell of death and prevent the doctors from becoming infected.
• Charles de Lorme was one of the first doctors to treat plague patients in a beak-like mask.

How to Make a Plague Doctor Costume

I have detailed every step of how to make a doctor costume for you. It’s very easy with this step-by-step tutorial, promise!

Let’s walk through the haunted halls of history and bring this black death costume to life!

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Supplies

• Plague doctor mask pattern printable (linked below)
• Large leather bag
• Cardstock
• Black Sharpie marker
• Scissors
• Tape
• Pencil
• White chalk pen
• Hot glue gun
• Hot glue sticks
• Two small black jar lids
• Black waxed cording
• Leather needles
• Long black jacket
• Black balaclava
• Black leather gloves
• Wide brimmed hat
• Cane or black staff

Instructions

I have included photos along the way, but if you have any questions at all, be sure to drop me a message.

1. Print the plague doctor mask template onto 8.5 x 11″ paper. Cut it out, tape it together, and check that the fit is correct for your mask.

For the mask material, I used a large black leather bag that we found at the thrift store. The bag does not need to be genuine leather, just have the look of leather.

We scavenged all of the embellishments off of the bag to use for costume details later. This is not necessary, but makes for an awesome finished look!

2. Use a white chalk pen to trace the pattern, including a 1/4″ seam allowance, onto the leather.

Important: To add the seam allowance when tracing, simply draw the line 1/4″ away from the edge of the pattern. This gives us a salvage edge to wrap around our base and stitch together.

3. Cut out the mask pieces from the leather.

4. Now trace the pattern onto cardstock using a pencil.

5. Cut the pattern out of cardstock.

Now you should have two sets of the mask pattern—one set of cardstock and one slightly larger set of leather.

6. Trim the corners of each leather piece at an angle. Basically, you just cut off a tiny triangle so that the folds lie flat when glued.

7. Wrap the edges of all of the leather pieces around all of the cardstock pieces and hot glue in place. We originally tried doing this with double-sided tape, but found hot glue to be the better choice.

Now all of your mask pattern pieces are sturdy and ready to be assembled.

Optional Eye Detail

I found these see-through jar lids at Michaels to use as glasses. We used a Sharpie to color in the clear plastic, but still have it be see-through. The black acrylic paint was used to paint over the silver detail.

These lids are optional. Just be sure to use something that is see-through, like black mesh or plastic, to create the signature plague eyes.

I found leather working needles and black cording at Michaels. The leather needles are important because they make piercing through the material way easier!

8. Sew all the pieces of the mask together to create the beak shape. I used a basic stitch and laid each mask piece wrong sides facing before sewing them.

Work the needle in about 1/8″ from the edge of the piece.

Your finished seams should look something like this.

9. Glue the eye pieces to the mask. This can be tricky, as the eye hole will bend and move, so work slowly around the hole to glue each eye piece into place.

Your eyes should look like this. Tip: We found super glue to work better than hot glue for this delicate area, but use caution whenever you use super glue!

10. Stitch around each eye. This edge is purely decorative, as stitching through all the layers of leather would be difficult.

You can stop here and simply glue mesh or plastic to the back side of the eyes for a completed mask.

At this point, I used super glue to affix the spice jar lids to the mask.

11. Use the straps of the bag to create an adjustable head strap.

12. Glue the straps into place using hot glue.

13. Add coordinating embellishments to the rest of the costume. I used hot glue to attach pieces to the jacket and umbrella that we used as a staff.

Costume details over the entire body and leather ensemble created our final image of the plague doctor.

Our finished bird beak mask!

I absolutely love how authentic this mask looks! These creepy masks brought around the early modern period of medicine.

Using the embellishments from the leather bag really helped to add texture and detail to the whole medieval doctor’s costume. Can you imagine seeing this masked figure in a long black coat treating you for the black plague?

We tested out paint, black marker, and Sharpie, and found the Sharpie to be the best medium to use to color the plastic black.

And while stitching around the eyes was tedious, it was well worth the effort!

Costume of Death Details

We found our jacket at the thrift store, the hat at a local Halloween store, and the balaclava, gloves, and umbrella (staff) at the dollar store.

Optional Costume Add-Ons

• A lantern with a flickering tea light makes the perfect accessory.
• Paint your staff with metallic silver or gold.
• Add a faux leather doctor’s satchel filled with labeled “cures”, like cinnamon sticks and dried rosemary.
• Stitch or glue gears or clock parts to your hat for a steampunk twist.
• Use white face paint around your eyes under the mask to add spooky depth when the light hits.
• Add embellishments like rivets, faux herbs, or gears.

The costume all put together!

I love how customizable this plague doctor costume is! You could add a cane or lantern, and all kinds of embellishments to the hat or mask to make it truly unique.

Tips and Tricks

• Try acetate sheets or dark-tinted sunglass lenses instead of jar lids for a sleeker, more see-through eye design.
• Use contact cement for a strong, flexible bond when gluing leather to the cardstock—it dries slower than hot glue but gives you time to reposition.
• A black trench coat from a thrift store makes the perfect plague doctor coat.
• Spray paint the mask with matte black paint after assembly for a uniform, realistic finish (especially over mixed materials).
• Add some dried lavender to the inside of the beak for that historically accurate touch and a little Halloween potpourri.
• If you’re in a rush, skip stitching and use black embroidery floss to fake stitches by hot gluing it around the seams!

More of Our Crafting Essentials

• We love using these Apple Barrel acrylic paints to add bright color to all of our projects.
• These paint brushes are ideal for most craft surfaces and a great price!
• This art supplies kit is our favorite because it has everything we needed to get started.
• This rolling storage cart helps to keep our craft supplies organized.

Download the free printable mask pattern by filling out the form below:

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Whether you’re creeping through a haunted house or leading your spooky squad through the neighborhood, this DIY plague doctor costume is unforgettable. It’s eerie, unique, and totally customizable.

So grab your glue gun, channel your inner medieval healer, and get crafting! You’re now ready to ward off pestilence!

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