Does it really get any cuter than this girl in her DIY BB8 Costume? Seriously. She couldn’t be cuter! My first thought for our Last Jedi family theme was she should be Rey. I know she loves Rey, although I think Princess Leia is her favorite. But she decided she wanted to be this adorable little droid.
You may have remembered when she was a baby ewok. That was such a cute costume! But I think this BB8 costume tops it! She looked so adorable I may have gone overboard with the pictures.
This costume took some careful planning. I was trying to figure out the best way to get that round shape. Then I remembered reading Make it and Love it’s Hoop Skirt Tutorial. It was great inspiration. I totally recommend reading her blog post. She is the costume queen.
DIY BB8 Costume Tutorial
Supplies:
- White material
- Orange fleece
- Grey fleece
- Black felt
- 1/2 Styrofoam ball (they have different sizes)
- Sewing Velcro
- Irrigation tubing
- Cutting Tool
- Connectors
- Plastic stick or painted skewers
*I recommend you reading this post first, it’s where I got my inspiration.
First you want measure how wide and tall you want your circle. I decided I wanted to use 6 trapezoid’s to create my circle. You can see with my amazing drawing skills the black outline shows you how to cut each piece. The widest part of the trapezoid is cut on a fold. I actually used an old sheet (the same material I used for the Han Solo costume years ago) to create an inner garment. After we finish this lining piece you can use your white material that will essentially be the outside covering. I used tissue paper to create this pattern.
Sew all your trapezoid pieces together to create a sphere. Only leave an opening so your child can step into under piece. I left about 1 seam from the middle to the top of my circle. I ended up using 7 pieces to create a fuller circle. And honestly I would suggest using 8. It will give you a better shape. Once my daughter was wearing the undergarment I used pinking shears to cut a small hole where she could put her arms though. I removed the lining and cut bigger hole to accommodate her arms. The pinking shears help the material from fraying. I cut my holes and then added my extra piece of material, which made it 7 pieces sewn together. That’s why her backside is a little more full.
Now we want to sew horizontal strips of material on the inside of our lining. You can create as many strips as you would like. The more strips, the more you can control your shape. I had some irrigation tubing leftover from my backyard so I used that to create my shape. I also already had this tool you use to cut the tubing. A recommendation for sewing pocket strips is to draw a line with colored chalk so you can try to control the material while you sew. It’s kinda tricky sewing straight lines on a curved garment. Once you have your strips attached you can insert your tubing. I used these tubing attachments to create a circle. Remember to push your circle to the limit so it’s fully extended. You can then sew some parts closed to help keep the shape. I had to work around the openings for her sleeves.
Once your shape is there use sewing velcro at the top so you can close your undergarment.
Make another tissue paper pattern as last time, only make it slightly larger. Use your white material. Repeat the basic steps from above. Add velcro to secure your costume. Have your child put on their under garment and then slip the cover over it. I folded down the top and bottom and added some skinny elastic to keep things looking finished. Also after I cut my arm holes I folded and hemmed the arm holes to make them more finished. I did plan for my daughter to wear a white shirt and pants under her costume.
Cut out 6-8 orange shapes and sew them on your costume. Then cut out grey pieces. I just hot glued these pieces on.
For her headband it was easier than it looks. I used extra white material and hot glued it on. Make sure to use a low temp glue gun. I smoothed and folded the material down as I glued it. (I used bigger shapes to cover these parts) Then I cut some white fleece to cover the bottom of my styrofoam so it looked more finished. Then I cut out shapes shown before. Luckily I was able to use extra grey from my son’s Porg costume. I used a large piece of white felt and glued the styrofoam to her headband. I had a black plastic part I pushed on the top. You could paint wooden skewers black to create your antennae.
This is her being a droid. Gosh it’s so fun having her for a daughter. My husband’s heart is so full that his daughter loves Star Wars so much! I’m so excited about our Last Jedi family theme. I had so much fun to make this adorable costume. It’s fun seeing older kids tell her that her costume is awesome. If you don’t have time to make a BB8 costume you can find one here on Amazon.
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