Coolest Homemade Gumby Costume

I decided I wanted to be Gumby many years ago, and finally 2 years ago I decided I would make my own Homemade Gumby Costume. I thought, “How difficult could it be? Cut out 2 sides, cut a strip between that would join the two, no problem!” Not exactly. This costume took me around 25-30 hours to complete.

I’m going to try to remember as many details as possible. How much fabric I bought I may not be able to remember. I first started with green felt bought at a fabric store. I went to Kinko’s and got about an 8 foot long piece of their printer paper. It was about 3 feet wide. I sketched the Gumby outline onto this. I made him around 7 feet tall. I cut out the figure from the paper, then set it on the green felt and outlined it in green marker. I cut both sides out and set them aside. I then cut out then center strip that would join the two sides. I believe I made this around a foot wide. I sewed this around both sides, through out the legs. I left one side open to be able to get in and out of. I left arm holes. I cut out two sides of a mittened hand and sewed them together for the sleeves.

I cut eyes out of felt squares and put them on with tacky glue. I cut out a mouth, and used several sheets of sheer netting in green so I could see out, but no one could see in. It also I affixed these with safety pins on the inside. If I needed something to drink, I could drink through a straw, or lift it from the bottom exposing my face if needed to.

I am 5’5″. To make the head light enough so I could hold it on top of mine I used big sheets of bubble wrap and wrapped them into a cylinder shape as wide as the original sheets I sewed around. (about a foot) I actually wore a bike helmet while in the costume. the material the helmet was made of gripped the plastic well and it stayed in one spot. Much better than having these cylinders of bubble wrap sit right on my head!

I bought foam sheets for the torso and legs. I cut them to size, then secured them in with spray adhesive. I also made sure the legs went all the way to the ground. I didn’t want anyone while walking to be able to see my shoes.

I hope that helps! I won 3 costume contests with this costume. I also was invited to the Spike Scream Awards Halloween 2008. Rosario Dawson waved at me as she was presenting, and said, “Gumby!” The camera panned on me and I waved at everyone. It was a lot of fun, and definitely got a lot of attention. This was the first time making anything and using a sewing machine. I had no idea the work I was undertaking when I started it. I was really astounded how great it turned out! Worth the work!

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