Chillaxxin
New Member
Hey guys! I wanted to share my Halloween 2015 rendition of Sam's costume from Trick 'R Treat. I have used these forums for a couple of my other projects and wanted to give back, as many others have been so helpful here. Thanks to everyone who posts their creations. They have inspired me to do things that I never would have thought possible.
Now, let's get to the details. Trick 'r Treat is one of my go-to Halloween movies and Sam's character design has struck a chord with me ever since I saw him. He's the cutest little guy! I'm 5 feet tall and figured this character would work well for my height and frame. I can't recall which threads I found the pattern on but I used some tips from other RPF forums to decide which pattern to use.
I went with Simplicity pattern 2853 for the jump suit and footie parts.
Here is the jumpsuit when it was finished. I used a very soft, high-piled fleece-like fabric that was a bright orange. For the patches, just a plain yellow cotton that I stitched with brown thread. I would say installing the zipper was the most difficult part. With the leftover fabric I had, I made a mock flap on the rear free-style and attached it with two large buttons sewed at the top two corners. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures of that bit. Also pictured here is my first failed attempt at the paper mache head skeleton. I scrapped that one and used a different approach, which I'll tell you about shortly.
View of completed jump suit with patches, rear flap and weathering applied.
To weather the suit because it was far too bright, I used the same mixture of the brown and black paint diluted into a bucket of water. I then crumpled the entire costume and stuffed it into the bucket, letting that "dirty" looking water soak into the costume. I left it in there for about 15 to 20 minutes then I wrung it out and hung it up to dry. The result was pretty great, as most of that dingy color pooled at the bottoms of my sleeves and legs. Exactly the effect I was going for!
Me wearing the completed jumpsuit with footies.
For the footies, I followed the pattern instructions for my foot size, added a bit of plain white cotton fabric to the tips and put no bottoms on them. I used the same weathering treatment for these. I had a pair of simple flats with straps that I hot glued the top footie part to and this worked wonderfully.
The completed footies, the tops just tucked inside the elastic around my ankles.
After my first failed attempt at the head casing, I realized a balloon was not going to be stable enough to hold a globe shape under the weight of the paper mache. I purchased 20" beach balls and used one to form my paper mache on it. I would do one layer, let that dry completely and then repeated that pattern until I had 5 layers. I think the beach balls I used were slightly too big for my body. I probably would have gone down to 18" or even 16" if those had been available, however I was in a rush and didn't want to wait on getting them shipped in. When all was said and done, it was pretty comfortable because I had ample room inside the mask which was great for ventilation. In order to wear this head without it shifting too much, I hot-glued some foam pieces inside the top of the head and hot-glued a piece of elastic that I could wear around my chin.
The completed 5 layers of paper mache. The beach ball was popped and pulled out gently after the piece was completely dry.
Here are my mouth and eye holes that I cut out with a box cutter and Xacto knife. You can also see that I have started to paint the exterior with a dark brown to avoid the lighter tones showing through the wide weave burlap.
View of ear holes, which are so very important. If I could do it again, I would have made them much larger, as it was quite hard to hear at times.
Almost finished with the outer coat, which was just a mixture of brown and black acrylic paint applied with an angled wide sponge brush. I used Zinsser Bulls Eye Shellac for the inside of the head as a sealant. I let it dry for a few days before wear, and the smell inside was very faint. It worked well.
I tea-stained these plain white gloves. I didn't take a photo, but I cut off the fingers and wrapped the gloves in burlap and string. You can see them on my hands in the photos of the finished costume.
Now came the daunting task of covering the head casing with burlap. That was pretty difficult. But, with yet even more hot glue, thread and a lot of patience, I was slowly able to form the face of Sam's mask with the help of my sister. We basically laid the burlap, hot glued it, folded it and continued gluing until the round shape was achieved, For the center seam, I cut a strip of burlap, folded it in thirds and glued and stitched it down until it looked like it was an actual fold, rather than a separate applied piece. I then applied the large buttons, stitched the mouth and used the watered-down acrylic paint mixture to weather the head. I purchased a rope from JoAnn's and attached it to the back of the mask with more hot glue and when it was tied, the head stayed on pretty snug. I was dancing around with it on and it stayed pretty well.
Three different views of the head. Not perfect by any means, but it was the best we were able to do without having to burn through all of the burlap.
The lollipops were made from Sculpy and paint. I used the mouth of a cup to cut out the circle and pressed the jack-o-lantern pattern with small tools. I made a small hole in the bottom before baking. Once they were baked and hardened, I painted the pattern with black acrylic paint, hot-glued a stick into the bottom and Modge-Podged the exterior for a more candy-like shine. I was unable to locate any orange and black striped straws in time to complete the lollipop handle's look.
Loved making these and thought they turned out pretty well!
All finished!
Posing with my on-the fly burlap sack and Trick 'r Treat backdrop from a previous Halloween party, also made by my sister and I.
Me, my sister the Bearded Lady and husband Pennywise (another costume I made) and my brother Day Man, out and about!
This costume was a labor of love and tons of fun to make. Again, thanks to everyone who posts their work here. You all are so inspiring. Thanks for looking!
Now, let's get to the details. Trick 'r Treat is one of my go-to Halloween movies and Sam's character design has struck a chord with me ever since I saw him. He's the cutest little guy! I'm 5 feet tall and figured this character would work well for my height and frame. I can't recall which threads I found the pattern on but I used some tips from other RPF forums to decide which pattern to use.
I went with Simplicity pattern 2853 for the jump suit and footie parts.
Here is the jumpsuit when it was finished. I used a very soft, high-piled fleece-like fabric that was a bright orange. For the patches, just a plain yellow cotton that I stitched with brown thread. I would say installing the zipper was the most difficult part. With the leftover fabric I had, I made a mock flap on the rear free-style and attached it with two large buttons sewed at the top two corners. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures of that bit. Also pictured here is my first failed attempt at the paper mache head skeleton. I scrapped that one and used a different approach, which I'll tell you about shortly.
View of completed jump suit with patches, rear flap and weathering applied.
To weather the suit because it was far too bright, I used the same mixture of the brown and black paint diluted into a bucket of water. I then crumpled the entire costume and stuffed it into the bucket, letting that "dirty" looking water soak into the costume. I left it in there for about 15 to 20 minutes then I wrung it out and hung it up to dry. The result was pretty great, as most of that dingy color pooled at the bottoms of my sleeves and legs. Exactly the effect I was going for!
Me wearing the completed jumpsuit with footies.
For the footies, I followed the pattern instructions for my foot size, added a bit of plain white cotton fabric to the tips and put no bottoms on them. I used the same weathering treatment for these. I had a pair of simple flats with straps that I hot glued the top footie part to and this worked wonderfully.
The completed footies, the tops just tucked inside the elastic around my ankles.
After my first failed attempt at the head casing, I realized a balloon was not going to be stable enough to hold a globe shape under the weight of the paper mache. I purchased 20" beach balls and used one to form my paper mache on it. I would do one layer, let that dry completely and then repeated that pattern until I had 5 layers. I think the beach balls I used were slightly too big for my body. I probably would have gone down to 18" or even 16" if those had been available, however I was in a rush and didn't want to wait on getting them shipped in. When all was said and done, it was pretty comfortable because I had ample room inside the mask which was great for ventilation. In order to wear this head without it shifting too much, I hot-glued some foam pieces inside the top of the head and hot-glued a piece of elastic that I could wear around my chin.
The completed 5 layers of paper mache. The beach ball was popped and pulled out gently after the piece was completely dry.
Here are my mouth and eye holes that I cut out with a box cutter and Xacto knife. You can also see that I have started to paint the exterior with a dark brown to avoid the lighter tones showing through the wide weave burlap.
View of ear holes, which are so very important. If I could do it again, I would have made them much larger, as it was quite hard to hear at times.
Almost finished with the outer coat, which was just a mixture of brown and black acrylic paint applied with an angled wide sponge brush. I used Zinsser Bulls Eye Shellac for the inside of the head as a sealant. I let it dry for a few days before wear, and the smell inside was very faint. It worked well.
I tea-stained these plain white gloves. I didn't take a photo, but I cut off the fingers and wrapped the gloves in burlap and string. You can see them on my hands in the photos of the finished costume.
Now came the daunting task of covering the head casing with burlap. That was pretty difficult. But, with yet even more hot glue, thread and a lot of patience, I was slowly able to form the face of Sam's mask with the help of my sister. We basically laid the burlap, hot glued it, folded it and continued gluing until the round shape was achieved, For the center seam, I cut a strip of burlap, folded it in thirds and glued and stitched it down until it looked like it was an actual fold, rather than a separate applied piece. I then applied the large buttons, stitched the mouth and used the watered-down acrylic paint mixture to weather the head. I purchased a rope from JoAnn's and attached it to the back of the mask with more hot glue and when it was tied, the head stayed on pretty snug. I was dancing around with it on and it stayed pretty well.
Three different views of the head. Not perfect by any means, but it was the best we were able to do without having to burn through all of the burlap.
The lollipops were made from Sculpy and paint. I used the mouth of a cup to cut out the circle and pressed the jack-o-lantern pattern with small tools. I made a small hole in the bottom before baking. Once they were baked and hardened, I painted the pattern with black acrylic paint, hot-glued a stick into the bottom and Modge-Podged the exterior for a more candy-like shine. I was unable to locate any orange and black striped straws in time to complete the lollipop handle's look.
Loved making these and thought they turned out pretty well!
All finished!
Posing with my on-the fly burlap sack and Trick 'r Treat backdrop from a previous Halloween party, also made by my sister and I.
Me, my sister the Bearded Lady and husband Pennywise (another costume I made) and my brother Day Man, out and about!
This costume was a labor of love and tons of fun to make. Again, thanks to everyone who posts their work here. You all are so inspiring. Thanks for looking!
