Help with my costume anandtech! 1st time making one from scratch.

[ondarkness]

My idea is to be a life-sized kermit the frog.
Im thinking of JOANNing it after work and getting the matching colored felt and kinda winging it.
Never done anything like it.
This is where you come in.

Any help, tips, suggestions on anything of the process would be nice.
I figure JOANNs and the hardware store is where I will need to go after work.
So join in the fun, and help me make my costume!
I'll be taking up a sewing technique, not sure which because I don't sew.
Suggestions?

The rough plan is to do a potato-sack style body/limbs with mayb PVC skeleton head.
Chime in with your knowledge on the subject please.

 

[zinfamous]

First, you cut a hole in a box...

 

[ondarkness]

Excellent.

 

[Saint Nick]

My suggestion would to go to you local Wal-Mart and find a Jason/hockey mask. They cost about five bucks.

Next, go to an art supply store and buy something called sculptamold. Make the mask as you want.

Then go to a fabric store to buy some lime green fleece and sew/cut to fit. It'll take a while, I would set aside at least six hours to do it. My costume was done similar to this and has taken about a week to complete, should be done tonight.

 

[ondarkness]

ok. Art supply store too. Nice tip!
Thanks

 

[apac]

Suggest you use hot glue instead of sewing. It will be quicker and easier for a costume, unless you plan on using it more than a few times.

edit: also plan on lots of time to get fabric. Someone just commented on facebook how the line to get fabric cut was like 30 people long.

 

[M0oG0oGaiPan]

instead of kermit the frog you should do that frog guy from the simpsons that pukes every second of his life.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WB-ZJUtaBrc

Bart: I studied. [waves wand] Abra-ca ... turn-into-a-prince-guy?
[The toad turns into a monstrous cross between a toad and a man
that can't stop throwing up.]
Mrs. K: Sloppy work as usual. Lisa's casting spells at an eighth-grade
level; *you've* sinned against nature.
Toad-man: Pease kill me.
Bart: [to Lisa:] You think you're so great just because you have godlike
powers.
Prince 2: [walks between Bart and Lisa] Stand away from milady!
Bart: [picks up toad-man] Get in there! Defend my honor!
Toad-man: [throws up on Lisa's prince] Every moment I live is agony!
Lisa: Bart, you're getting vomit on my prince! [waves wand]
Head-zeppelin!
[Bart's head morphs into a zeppelin and he floats to the ceiling.]

 

[ondarkness]

great tip with the glue gun!
You guys rock.
better send the girlfriend to the fabric line =P

 

[Binarycow]

want an original costume?
Go to Ace hardware store and buy an industrial size aluminum trash can, then cut a hole at the bottom and two holes on the side large enough for you to wear it upside-down. Also pick up some red paint while at Ace and paint the word "whup ass" on the front side of the can.

Now you can go to your halloween party as a can of whup ass.

 

[KeithP]

My idea is to be a life-sized kermit the frog.

Life sized? Kermit is quite small, are you a little person or maybe plan to cut yourself in half?

-KeithP

 

[Skillet49]

If you have never sewn before, I would not recommend going to JoAnn Fabrics and attempting to make your own costume (especially one that requires arms and legs). Sewing costumes is a lot harder than it looks. I have made Halloween Costumes before and they usually take several hours. I would recommend buying a costume, taking a sewing class, and doing this next year.

But if you still want to go through with it, this is what I would recommend.

Go into the back of the store where they have all the patterns. Look through them (most books have a costume section). I would recommend Simplicity. They are usually the easiest. If there is no Kermit the Frog pattern, you might have to find a couple of patterns to creatively combine. Or they might only have it in a child's size, in which case I would still get the pattern and just cut larger (use your own clothes for a rough estimate of size if you have to do this).

On the back of the pattern, it will tell you how much fabric to get. If an associate is available, I would recommend asking them some questions. I would recommend using a sewing machine to make a costume, but I have only hand sewn things like buttons so I'm not terribly familiar with that process. And I would recommend having an iron and ironing board handy as they make hemming much easier.

Am I just curious though: Are you planning on borrowing a sewing machine from someone? Is someone going to show you how to use it or do you already know how? If you are doing this in an attempt to save money, I would want you know that making a costume is usually just as expensive as buying one so unless it's for the fun of making the costume, again I would not recommend this since Halloween is in two days. Sorry to be a downer.

 

[her209]

If you have never sewn before, I would not recommend going to JoAnn Fabrics and attempting to make your own costume (especially one that requires arms and legs). Sewing costumes is a lot harder than it looks. I have made Halloween Costumes before and they usually take several hours. I would recommend buying a costume, taking a sewing class, and doing this next year.

It really sucks when your seams start splitting and you didn't wear clean boxers.

 

[Skillet49]

It really sucks when your seams start splitting and you didn't wear clean boxers.

That it would!

 

[Saint Nick]

This is why I had my girlfriend make my costume...

Hopefully posting it tonight! Pretty sweet.