DIY: How to make a wacky wavy inflatable flailing arm tube man

Wacky waving flailing arm tube man costume

You will need :

  • 2 pop up laundry hampers, or one of those kid’s long tunnel tubes (make sure it’s wide enough for your shoulders)
  • A glue gun
  • Big googly eyes, or white and black fabric to make big eyes
  • A sewing machine (or you can hot glue it together if you don’t know how to sew)
  • Needle and thread
  • Fabric (wide enough to cover the outside of the hamper and long enough to cover your full height plus extra for the sleeves and top of the costume. My fabric was 60 inch x 3.5 yrds for a person who is 6’1 in height.

Step 1. Cut out the bottom of one of the hampers

Step 2. Sew the two hampers together

Step 3. Cut your fabric so that it’s long enough to fully cover the hamper and your feet when you are wearing it.

Step 4. Sew the two ends of the fabric together to create a long tube

Step 5. Flip the fabric inside out so that the seam is on the inside, and then stick the hampers inside

Step 6. Bunch off the top and sew it closed.

Step 7. Cut out the mouth. This hole is where you will be able to see out while wearing your costume. If you are using a dark hamper like me, just cut the mouth out of the fabric layer and leave the hamper layer in tact. If you’re using a light coloured hamper, you may want to cut the mouth hole through both the fabric and hamper layer and then glue some black mesh to close off the mouth so that it’s harder to see your face when you are wearing the costume.

Step 8. Cut two rectagles that are wide enough to loosely cover your arms. The length should be at least 1.5 times longer than your arms to get some good flailing movement.

Step 9. Sew the arms on to the body.

Step 10. Glue the eyes on.

That’s it!