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The $7.95 (plus $5.95, plus $5.95…) Astronaut Costume

(UPDATE: Click HERE to see the final result in action)

costume

I was all set to sew my son a fairly easy white jumpsuit to make his astronaut Halloween costume when I came up with what seemed like a great idea: turning a thrift-store snowsuit into a spacesuit. I figured a snowsuit would be puffier, more like a real spacesuit, and would keep him warm (Halloween in New Hampshire can be brutal… I still remember how upset I was at having to wear a TURTLENECK under my Wonder Woman costume when I was 5).

This would’ve been an easy and cheap plan, had I skipped ahead to the end result: DUCT TAPE. But no, I had to try to paint the fabric first. Yes, there is such a product as fabric spray paint, but it does not come in white. The only thing I could find was stencil paint. Four cans later, I had spent considerably more than the $7.95 I spent on the coat and snow pants and they still weren’t solid white. And they were kind of sticky. So I threw them in the wash. Big mistake. That caused the paint to stick to itself. Enter Plan B: DUCT TAPE and lots of it. (About 2 and a half rolls). Which actually worked great.

I stuffed the coat and pants with towels to make it easier to wrap the tape around them.

costume2

The helmet is made from a balloon and papier mache, I used the directions from Family Fun magazine. After it dried and I cut out the opening, I covered it with duct tape and taped an embroidery hoop to the bottom to make a collar. I also sewed and glued a beanie-style fleece hat to the inside in hopes that it would keep the helmet from wobbling around.

costume3

costume4

The only sewing involved was attaching the patches (purchased at our local planetarium) and a piece of felt I sewed around the collar so the rough tape wouldn’t be rubbing against his neck). I just wish I had thought of this sooner and could’ve shopped around for a bigger coat and pants. All I could find was a size 4, which is a bit snug.

(NOTE: I am disabling comments on this post because for some reason it attracts spam. If you would like to contact me, see the “about me” section on my main page)

October 29th, 2009 | Category: Uncategorized

28 comments to The $7.95 (plus $5.95, plus $5.95…) Astronaut Costume