Halloween will be here before we know it, and if your kiddos are anything like mine, I’m sure they’ve been excitedly talking about what they want to dress up as. My older son has always liked traditional Halloween costumes. Several years ago, he wanted to be a mummy. After looking online and perusing Pinterest, I realized I could easily make the costume cheaper than buying one and to me, a DIY mummy costume looks much more authentic than one bought from a catalog. Before getting started with the tutorial, I want to point out this isn’t a costume that can be whipped together over night. Give yourself at least a week or more to get the needed supplies and slowly craft the costume so ends up exactly as you and your child have envisioned.
I’ve said this before, and I’m saying it again. I’m one of the least crafty people you’ll meet, so if I can make this costume, you can too. Further, you should have almost everything you need. If your child loves to dress up and be scary, this is the costume for you. This would also be a great costume for a costume contest! Follow these simple steps to create a super cute and festive DIY mummy costume.
Supplies
- an old white sheet
- hot glue gun
- a white or gray jogging suit or shirt/pants set
- tea bags
- face make-up
- Halloween hair dye spray
Instructions
1. Cut your sheet into workable pieces then rip them into strips of all different sizes. It doesn’t matter if they are shredding or different shapes. In fact, that makes the costume look even better. Put on your favorite show, sit on the couch and start ripping.
2. Once you have your strips of sheet, you need to dye them so they look brownish and dingy like mud and dirt. We dyed ours brown with tea bags which is a really easy process. As you can see in the photos below, put the tea bags in the sink and let the water turn brown, then put your strips in the water and let them sit for quite some time (2 hours or so) stirring them in the process.
3. Drain the water from the sink and let the strips dry a little in the sink, then ring the water out of them and set them all on a towel to dry out. They won’t turn completely brown, but they will be off-white and discolored which ended up being perfect.
4. Once the strips have dried, lay out your child’s jogging suit or shirt/pants and cut the strips so that they loosely fit the width of the clothing items. Don’t cut all strips the same. It looks better a little messy. A real mummy doesn’t have perfectly-sized strips, now does he?
5. Glue the strips first on the front of the shirt then on the back, then loosely glue them around the arms. IMPORTANT: DO NOT GLUE STRIPS AROUND THE SHIRT; LEAVE THE SEAMS EXPOSED. Otherwise, the shirt will not stretch at all and it may be impossible to get it on your child. How frustrating would that be after all of your hard work? Below is what the shirt will look like. You do the same with the pants. First glue strips on the front, then the back. To cover the seams, you can loosely glue bits and pieces of sheets here and there. Remember, the messier the strips look, the better. It is a mummy, after all!
6. Once you have the shirt and pants covered with strips, go back and glue long and short strips all over the outfit to make it look more like a mummy. Try not to leave any part of the fabric exposed. And like I said earlier, the messier the better. Some strings hanging here and there give even more added effect.
7. When the costume is securely on your child, carefully glue more strips here and there to finish it up. When doing this, just make sure your little one stays still. The costume is so thick at this point, I promise the glue won’t bleed through the fabric and burn the skin. Lastly, paint his or her face white with dark eyes and spray the hair all messy and white. Lastly, once the costume is securely on your child, carefully glue more strips here and there to finish it up. And there you have it!
While this costume is easy and really fun to make, you can’t make it overnight, so if your child wants to be a mummy, begin looking for the materials soon. Take your time making it. It’s very rewarding to make a DIY costume and have your child LOVE wearing it. As you can see, Little Brother just wanted to wear his Ninja Turtle mask and outfit, but maybe this year, I will be making two homemade costumes. I would actually love to do that.
I hope you and your family have a super fun and frightful Halloween!
Elena says
Looks cool! I love this idea
La Vonne Yates says
I love this, its just so cute!!!! Great DIY project!!!
Natalie says
Halloween costumes are becoming way too expensive in the store. I would love to make my own!
maleficent mcn says
that’s a cute costume. and looks somewhat easy
busyworkingmama says
I love that costume! It turned out great! Lovely tutorial.
Terri/Love and Confections says
Such a cute costume. I love the tea bag idea to make the fabric look worn.
susannabarbee says
Thank you! It was super fun to make.
DJ says
Too cute! I always enjoy seeing everyone’s costumes on Halloween. So much fun!
laurajacobson says
Oh what a fun idea!!!! I love the homemade costumes!
Priscilla S. says
What an adorable costume! The tea staining makes all the difference. Very “authentic” looking 😉