Tutorial: How to pattern foam costumes

[Ludi]

A couple people have asked how to make costumes like this Blue Whale:

Below is a brief tutorial on how to pattern an object to turn it into a costume. I'll be posting several times in a row to post the whole tutorial, since I have to upload pictures. Usually I sculpt a model, but here I'm using a toy Allosaurus.  This toy is about 9 inches long which is about the minimum size for this method of patterning.  The larger the object, the more detail you'll get in the pattern.

Step 1:  Gather tools and supplies

For patterning:

toy or model
cellophane/clingwrap
wide masking tape
cutting board
rotary cutter
xacto knife
scissors
graph paper
clear tape
butcher paper or other large size paper
ruler/yardstick

For costume:

1/2 - 1 inch thick mattress foam (the green foam from Joann will work)
box cutter/utility knife
spray glue
polar fleece
upholstery or automotive thread
long needles



Step 2:  Decide how to fit costume on wearer

Here we're patterning a toy Allosaurus for a dinosaur costume to fit an adult.  We want to line up the dinosaur arms and legs more or less with the human arms and legs.  On the model, the shoulders and hips are about 2 inches apart.  On the wearer, the shoulders and hips are about 18 inches apart.  That means our scaled up dinosaur needs to be 9 times bigger than the model.  This will make the costume almost 7 feet long - an impressive size.  

[Ludi]

Step 3:  Cover model with cellophane.  Any kind of very thin plastic or clingwrap will work.  Just put one layer on, so as not to add bulk.  It serves as a separator between the model and the tape in the next step.



Step 4: Tape over cellophane on model. 

First cut narrow strips of masking tape on a cutting board, using rotary cutter.  You want narrow strips to conform to the shape of the model, about 1/4 inch wide.





Cover the model with the thin strips of masking tape, being careful to smooth it around the contours and not make wrinkles.



Model covered with tape.  I've not covered the arms and legs because we're using the human's own arms and legs in the costume:

[Ludi]

Step 5: Marking the pattern on the taped model

First mark the center line all around the model.  We'll only pattern one side because the model is reasonably symmetrical. 



After marking the center line, mark a line to show the large parts of the object - in this case the head, body, and tail.



Then divide each part into smaller sections, drawing lines along the contour.  IMPORTANT NOTE:  at this point you must number each section and make hatch marks to show where they line up with each other.  You MUST take a photograph or draw a detailed map of the position of each part on the model, otherwise you will not be able to figure out how the parts go together once they're cut apart!

The more parts you make, the more detail you'll get, and a less boxy shape, but the more complicated it will be putting it together.









Step 6:  Cutting apart the pattern

Carefully cut along the lines of the pattern pieces with a very sharp knife.  Here's where you see you don't want to use a precious toy for a model, because it will likely get cut during this step.





We forgot to number a couple of parts!  But it wasn't too late to add the numbers and document their placement on the model:



All the small pattern pieces are cut apart and taped down on graph paper.  if you tape them down in logical relation to each other, they'll make more sense later on:



The pattern on graph paper:

[Ludi]

Step 7 : Enlarging the pattern.

 Most people who make things are familiar with the process of "gridding up" to enlarge patterns.  You can do it the old fashioned way, or you can take the pattern to your local Kinko's and ask them to "enlarge this 900%" (or whatever your factor is). 

Tomorrow I'll try to post about cutting out the foam and assembling the costumes.  Unfortunately I don't have time to make a life-size example, so there probably won't be many, or any, photos.

Hope this tutorial is helpful!   

[KarenLouiseM]

That is incredibly impressive!

[edelC]

this is an excellent tutorial, well done

[dntysgrplm]

Amazing!  Thank you so much.  Now I have to make one!

[Ludi]

Thanks!  I hope this will encourage folks to try this advanced technique.

Later today I will show how to cut out and glue the foam pieces together.  I didn't think I'd be able to, but it looks like we might have the materials lying around for me to make a scaled-up dinosaur head from this pattern  (it will be 4 times bigger than the model, not 9 times as in the above discussion).  So more photos and info to come later..... 

Special thanks to my husband, a professional foam sculptor, who is taking most of the photos and providing some of the hand modeling, as well as expert guidance. 

[Ludi]

You can also make mascot-style heads and body shapes using this technique, like this Zebra we made for a client:

[edelC]

oh wow. I want your job!