Help me be an Eve to his Wall-E

October 5, 2008 11:48 AM

I have a penchant for elaborate Halloween costumes. This year my boyfriend and I want to go as Wall-E and Eve, but I'm struggling with how to create an Eve costume.

(This is anonymous because I also have a penchant for surprising family and friends with my elaborate Halloween costumes)

I found this tutorial but am not happy with their flimsy fabric suggestion. I want the body and head to be separate and have a hard, smooth outer shell. I also want to match Eve's shape as closely as possible.

So far my best idea is to build everything out of paper mache. I've built smaller pieces for past costumes, but a humongous egg shape is a daunting task to undertake in my little 1-bedroom apartment!

The other thought I had was to use a lightweight plastic garbage can (white, or covered in white fabric) but internet searches are not turning up anything that is both big enough and appropriately-shaped. Ideally, I'd want something like this, but actually big enough for an adult to fit into.

Any ideas, oh crafty people of ask.me?

posted by anonymous to clothing, beauty, & fashion (6 comments total)

Why don't you just wear a sleek white body stocking, with a helmet face plate and white mittens to simulate her flipper arms? Then make a wire frame partial egg covered in white fabric and something to give it a shine sprayed over that (or use white lame).

It'll be lighter and less awkward than plastic, which will capture more of Eve's grace. This is pretty important to the character, who looked nearly weightless when she moved. Meanwhile your boyfriend can go with a cardbard box Wall-E suit, in his characteristic rust colours, because Wall-E's cuteness was in part because he had a jerky toddlers unsteady gait.
posted by Phalene at 12:39 PM on October 5 [1 favorite]

I want the body and head to be separate and have a hard, smooth outer shell.

Have you considered the difficulties in sitting and walking that would entail?

Of course, I'm a sewer, so I look at things and try to use fabric. That said, this is how I'd do it:

Construct a shiny fabric cone (use vinyl, if you like...and if you've sewn with it before) with elastic at the bottom, likely above one's knees, affixed to a rigid hoop around your shoulders. Beneath the hoop you'd want to make slits or sleeves.

For the head, I'd go with a very loose hood - the kind that drapes and makes an A shape around the head - and then tighten up the shape once it falls right. Again, stiffer fabric would absolutely work. (This is the only part I can imagine making with papier mache, or stiffened cheesecloth covered with PM.) Affix a black gauze veil just inside the limits. Paint or illuminate (blue LEDS - or possibly blue glowstick glasses worn behind the veil?) as needed for sight.
posted by cobaltnine at 12:41 PM on October 5

My family used to be masters of paper mache costumes. Our technique involved finding inflatable object(s) that had the desired shape, covering them with many layers, then cutting holes in the hardened result. For the eight-ball costume, we used a giant beach ball. Other costumes used rafts (the kind you have in a swimming pool). Something like this might work for Eve's torso, with a beach ball for the head. If you do this, you should start now, since you can only work as fast as the layers dry and trust me, you need many layers.
posted by djb at 1:51 PM on October 5

For the head, you can use a trash can lid from a white, plastic, dome trashcan. I got mine at Target. I say do your arms with white PVC piping (one for upper arm, one for forearm) and I'm not sure about the body. I'll keep brainstorming.
posted by cachondeo45 at 5:33 PM on October 5

Great costume idea! I propose a paper mache structure and fabric combo, dittoing cobaltnine about eva's weightlessness.

Head: Papermache base, fabric on top. I would start with a big beach ball to make a sphere (that your head will fit into), then use duct tape to morph the shape into Eva's head (more oblong). Paper mache but don't decorate the face. Cover the head in white fabric/vinyl to get the smoothness, and use black and blue vinyl sticker paper for Eva's face/ screen.

Body: try taking apart a child's cheap hula hoop. Cut + re-bend it into an exaggerated hoop for your shoulders, and a smaller tube for around your knees. Sew a body from fabric in the shape of a tube (might want to pad yourself underneath with clothing? balloons? life vest?). I think if you weight the bottom tube (fill with beans, etc) the body will have a bit of swing to the fabric. For the roundness of the body, I'm stumped- the only thing I can picture is standing over a vacuum cleaner as a kid where my shirt puffed out.

Arms: To maximize mobility, I would cut a strip of cardboard about 2" wide and tape it into the outlined shape of Eva's arms (maybe use dowelling inside to keep the shape). Stretch fabric around it, and attach it around your arm with a strap. If you make it longer than your arm, your hands are free underneath, but the arm looks like Eva's from the top.
posted by sambiamb at 9:05 AM on October 6

... eesh, I meant Eve, not Eva.
posted by sambiamb at 9:07 AM on October 6