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Homemade Child’s Tron Costume

How to make a Tron costume in 10 days or less?

“Nan, can you make me Tron for Halloween?”  My grandson asked sweetly, 10 days before our town’s Trick or Treat night. “Sure, Buddy”, I answered with complete naiveté.  I was not sure who or what a tron was but each year I try to make something special for my grandson.  He loved the movie Tron Legacy when it came out and wanted to be Tron ever since.  However last year I was on vacation so he had a store bought costume.  So this year, on October 16th, I promised him I, indeed, could make him Tron.  Uh-oh!

Where to start?  Find out what a Tron is.  Rent the movie.  Oh my Gosh!  How was I going to pull this one off?   I know, You Tube!  So, I went to You Tube and watched many a video on how to make a Tron Costume.  Cool. But now I need to see one on how to make a Tron costume without breaking the bank in the process! I can afford a motorcycle suit or a wet suit. Hmmm, nothing on You-Tube like that.  Okay brain, start thinking. Stare at images of Tron and think some more.
Let’s start with the basics.  Black sweats are very affordable so let’s start there.  I had to buy pants one size smaller and they still were too baggy so I took the legs in 2 inches, now they fit like leggings for boys.  Great now I have black sweats with tight legs.  Oh well, it’s a start.  Black sweats = $12.00.

How to light-up the suit?  Well, I needed some reflective tape and maybe a rope of led lights (battery operated, of course). I found Glow in the dark Duck Tape at Walmart for $4.00. But for the rest it’s Amazon to the rescue!  I found Reflexite REF-DB Retroreflective V92 Daybright Tape: 2 in. x 15 ft. (Silver-White) = $23.00 and 9ft Blue Neon Glowing Electroluminescent Wire (El Wire) = $6.00.

Unfortunately, I needed a sturdier canvas for all of this tape and wire than a fleece sweat shirt so I found some flat foam 11.81 in x 17.71 in sheets at Joann Fabrics for .99 each. I bought 2, one for his chest, one for his back.  Perfect size!  However, I didn’t realize that you can’t sew foam (until I TRIED to sew foam) and that was how I planned to attach the led wire.  I tried taping the wire down but it wouldn’t stick in the small strips that I needed. Bummer!  So off to the Dollar General for a roll of black Duck Tape = $3.50 and dust masks (.50 for 2) for his shoulder armor, spray painted black.

When I showed my grandson my design (the tape laid out on the foam/shirt) he was elated to say the least!  But then, I ran into the problem of the foam ripping and the tape not sticking to the wire and foam.  I HAD to finish this, my grandson was counting on me! So, I put it aside for a day or two, knowing on the day before Trick or Treat my creative juices would flow…and they did.

I cut arm and neck curves on the foam pieces to fit like a vest.  I sewed the tops of the foam (like straps) onto the sweatshirt. I knew I couldn’t sew the sides down because he wouldn’t have been able to get them over his head so I put stick-on Velcro on his shirt and the vest and attached them when he was dressed.  I covered the front and back of the foam with black duck tape.  I then cut the glow in the dark tape and placed them on the suit in the shapes.  (I didn’t measure anything,  I just cut what I thought the pictures looked like).  It looked pretty cool with just the glow tape but I decided to put the reflective tape in the middle of the glow tape to make it really “pop out” at dusk when it’s not totally dark outside. After I got the reflective tape on I added the LED wire to just the front of the suit and secured it with black duck tape. On the back of the suit shirt I added a disk made of 2 small paper plates with a hole cut out in the middle, covered in black tape with glow tape around the edges (later, I added a glow stick necklace around it) and attached the disk with Velcro, then I added reflective and glow tape to the back. On the pants I put reflective and glow tape on the front and just glow tape on the back. Since it was raining and cold I added black gloves with reflective tape to keep Tron’s hands warm. (Tron’s mom made him wear a black stocking hat as well.)

Success! All of the Trick-or-Treaters knew he was Tron! Not just Tron but an AWESOME Tron!! He was the neighborhood Rock Star!  SUCCESS!

I could have spent $30 for a “store-bought” Tron costume but it would not have been as much fun as showing my grandson what we can do when we use our imagination and ingenuity.  I spent around $55-$60, (pardon me using a credit card ad here) but my grandson’s smile and hugs were truly PRICELESS!

Homemade Child's Tron Costume

Homemade Child's Tron Costume

Homemade Child's Tron Costume

Homemade Child's Tron Costume

Homemade Child's Tron Costume

Homemade Child's Tron Costume

Homemade Child's Tron Costume

Homemade Child's Tron Costume

Homemade Child's Tron Costume



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