Z's Lightning McQueen Costume was designed with the winning idea of ease and simplicity…
My wheels instantly started turning… How would I make a costume allowing Z the ability to walk and move comfortably? Andy jumped online searching for costumes. I was disappointed by the selection online. A part of me actually thought the retailers were able to read my mind, producing exactly what I envisioned Z wearing for Halloween. Sadly, all we found were two main options:
- A red box shaped as a car with all the Lightning McQueen sponsors and logos, or
- A red and black racing jump suit.
I knew I could make each of those costumes myself. And, there was no way in God's green earth Z would walk through the neighborhood wearing a box! Andy or I would be left carrying it. Then Z wouldn't be wearing a costume. No way, we can’t have that. After some online research, we found a picture of the Lightning McQueen sponsors which are plastered all over the race car. Once I knew we were able to find all of Lightning McQueen’s sponsors, I had a vision for how Z’s Lightning McQueen costume was going to be designed. My end goal and vision was turning Z into Lightning McQueen with a red t-shirt, black pants, and baseball hat.
Racers, Start your engines for some SHOPPING:
For this costume you will need:
- Red t-shirt – a red, long sleeve turtle neck… just-in-case it is cold and long sleeve because we need the room for the lightning bolt and racing number.
- Black pants – long black sweat pants… again, just-in-case it is cold and long pants for the tire logo
- Red baseball cap
- Fusible printable fabric – for all the logos
- Iron
- Scissors
On a previous project, I used printable fabric by June Tailor… If you clicked on the link, the printable fabric sounds amazing and you are correct… It is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!
While shopping for the printable fabric for Z’s Lightning McQueen Costume, I found printable fabric with fusible webbing on the back! There is a slight chance I started the Happy Mommy Dance in the middle of the store. And if you don’t completely understand where my extreme excitement is stemming from, don’t worry… Andy looked at me like I had 7 spinning heads singing nursery rhymes when I told him all about the fusible webbing. The fusible webbing turns the printable fabric into an iron-on patch making my planning, designing, and life 100% easier… AND NO SEW! Let me repeat... NO SEW!
A Mini Side Note: After multiple washing and wear and tear of a 3-year-old, the bright colors from the original printer fabric will fade. As well, since the printer fabric is not stitched into place, the corners begin to peel. In the case of the peeling edges, re-iron the spots or use fabric glue. Regarding the fading, I'm not too sure how to fix it, but in the mean time maybe you Cars' fan has grown a size up and you can create a Planes t-shirt for them ;)
Speed into printing…
This is when a little researching will take place, I put my husband in charge of locating ALL of Lightning McQueen's racing sponsors... And there are a TON: Rusteze, Racing #95, Lightning bolt, Piston Cup, Mood Springs, No Stall, NitroAde, Octane Gain, Vitoline, Easy Idle. Once you have collected them all, save them onto your computer.
Begin Manipulating the sizes of each sponsor to ensure the image is not too big for your shirt and they all fit on this shirt. Test print on plain paper for the right sizes for your shirt.
Taking to the race track and cutting all the pieces out…
Pull scissors from your Mary Poppins Bag (away from the kids) and begin cutting the logos, lightning bolts, and racing numbers.
Laying it all out…
Your choice on layout of the logos… This is what I did…
- Rusteze logo – is positioned on the chest
- Lightning bolt and racing number, 95 – positioned on the sleeve, just below the shoulder. Ensure the 95 is on its side, the bottom of the 95 is facing the front of the shirt, and the 95 is centered on the lightning bolt.
- Lightyear logo (name of the tires) – positioned on pant legs, facing the front of pants. Position the letters along the outer seam of the pants, using the seam as a guide to keep the letters straight.
- All other logos – positioned on the back of the shirt… but not too close to the arm pit or outer edge.
Heating things up…
Follow the instructions for your fusible printable fabric, this is what I did…
Turn on your iron (away from the kids). Lay all the logos out, beginning with the chest, then back, the arms, and lastly the pant legs
Speeding toward the finish line…
Finish off the whole outfit with a red baseball hat – we stumble upon this Lightning McQueen baseball hat at Lids in our local mall.
Z makes the perfect mini Lightning McQueen! And with his love for the character, enjoyment of the movies, and excitement for Halloween – Z, and Lily are a spooky twosome in their Cars Movie inspired Halloween Costume.
A Mini Side Note: After multiple washing and wear and tear of a 3-year-old, the bright colors from the original printer fabric will fade. As well, since the printer fabric is not stitched into place, the corners begin to peel. In the case of the peeling edges, re-iron the spots or use fabric glue. Regarding the fading, I'm not too sure how to fix it, but in the mean time maybe you Cars' fan has grown a size up and you can create a Planes t-shirt for them ;)