Star Wars C-3PO Costume for Child

Our Halloween trio this year was Star Wars droids: C-3PO, R2-D2, and BB-8!

C-3PO was the most difficult costume to conceptualize – I was hoping to purchase an inexpensive pre-fab plastic knight’s armor and use gold spray paint and other recyclable elements to customize it, but could not find any good base options. I also looked into working with EVA foam and was inspired by all the amazing cosplay DIYs, but felt daunted by the prospect of working with a new material/tools. Sewing is my most practiced skill and, after a bit of fabric store reconnaissance, I ended up utilizing a stiff metallic gold vinyl type “fabric” and sewing up the majority of this C-3PO costume. I looked at LOTS of reference photos and modified my patterns to match the details. (If you do not sew, this may also be doable with lots of Velcro and/or gaffers/duct tape.)

The elements of our C-3PO costume:

- mask

- chest armor

- exposed belly wires

- upper arm and forearm covers and gloves

- armored bottom

- upper thigh covers, knee detail, shin covers, shoe covers

Sewing machine, thread, notions

Scissors (helpful to also have embroidery scissors and rotary cutter)

Pencil

Tracing paper/Butcher paper

Gold vinyl fabric (the linked material is what I used - a stiff vinyl; very tricky to sew with/maneuver through a machine but the stiffness was a closer mimic to actual metal)

Inexpensive Vinyl for sewing up practice muslins (optional)

Plastic-coated wires in different colors (we stripped existing old cables we had for wires)

Gaffers Tape (used to tape up seam allowances)

Sticky-back Velcro

Elastic

Gold Spray Paint

Circular Plastic lids (for detail elements – belly circle and knee circles)

Hot glue gun

Gold metallic unitard (optional, but provided warmth and continuity along the joints)

Black Tshirt (worn over unitard, under chest armor)

I purchased a vintage C-3PO plastic mask and modified it:

- replaced the elastic

- spray painted the front with metallic gold spray paint

- added "eye grates" with narrow strips of gold vinyl and gaffers tape

I used the Geranium Dress bodice as my starting point, as I knew it was about the same shape as C-3PO's armor. You can also make a basic pattern from an existing tank top or tshirt. I made the following modifications:

- added a "cap" sleeve

- added top stitching to mimic C-3PO's pectorals

- added additional seam allowance along the back opening for Velcro closure

- added a "turtleneck"

- added a belt/belly band

- finished all exposed seams by sewing about 3/8" to the inside and trimming excess

(I sewed a muslin using a flimsier tablecloth vinyl to get a sense of fit before cutting from the actual gold vinyl)

Some helpful tips to sew with a stiff material:

- trim and clip all curved seams very well

- sew slowly!

- trim all seam allowances (can also utilize gaffers tape as a seam tape) -- because the fabric is so stiff, the seams can be very uncomfortable in the finished worn costume

The circular "belt" was cut to the finished width of the bodice, with the added circular element in the front. Two plastic lids were attached with hot glue and spray painted to add detail. I ended up attaching the belt to the bodice at the side seam

This was a fun element to create and really made the costume look like C-3PO!

Using reference photos, arrange wires to mimic C-3PO's, zip tie groups of wires together

Arrange wires along a strip of gaffers tape, enclose with tape along both the top and bottom

Add Velcro to the back of gaffers tape and inside of chest costume (and armored bottoms)

Using trial and error, I came up with an arm cover pattern (the sides should actually angle in more, but I was able to account for this angling with the Velcro closure) -- I made separate covers for upper arm and forearm; they close with Velcro on the inside part, closest to the body as to better hide that seam

I added elastic to connect the upper arm covers to the sleeve of the chest armor to prevent them from slipping down

The glove covers are segments of vinyl sewn onto elastic -- I sewed two elastic bands to hold them onto the base glove and added Velcro as well to help it stick to the glove

Or "gold underwear", as we referred to it in our household!

This was the trickiest pattern to size correctly -- the vinyl was so stiff that the crotch portion needed to be quite narrow to fit comfortably. Lots of trial and error!

The back of the bottoms angle down in a sharper "V" while the front is a more subtle curve -- helpful to mark the front and back!

I sewed one side seam together and left the other open, adding Velcro for a closure

I top-stitched three lines along the top edge for detailing, reference photos were helpful to mimic this element

Again, lots of trial and error with these elements

Notes:

- thigh covers close on the inside with Velcro, as to hide that seam better

- I added elastic to connect the thigh covers to the seams of the armored bottoms to prevent them from slipping down

- knee elements are segments of vinyl joined with elastic, sewn to two fabric circles (think a semi-finished "cylinder" shape, where the elastic provides flexibility for knee movement); plastic spray painted lids were hot glued to add detail

- Shoe covers have Velcro closure along the back and two pieces of elastic to hold in place

Getting dressed was a multi-step process!

- put on gold unitard

- put on black tshirt

- put on chest armor, close with Velcro along back seam

- put on upper arm, forearm covers

- put on black gloves, put on gold glove armor

- put on armored bottoms, close with Velcro along side seam

- put on thigh and shin covers

- put on shoes and shoe covers

- put on mask

and that's our C-3PO!

Get together with your Star Wars crew and have a Happy Halloween!