Wildlowers & Whimsy is here today with a fantastic DIY Wall-E costume tutorial. Learn how to make Wall-E with this detailed tutorial. This will make your little guy or girl happy!

When my son asked to be Wall-e a couple of years ago, so I scoured the internet for ideas on how to make a DIY Wall-e costume. The ideas were cute, but all of them involved painting a cardboard box. Uh, 1. I hate painting. 2. I’m not very good at it. 3. No way I was going to put that much effort into something that was basically going to be a throw away costume! So I thought and thought, and finally, it hit me! Sew a slip cover for a box! That way when the box is finished, I can just get a new one and still have the costume! And boy am I glad that I decided to do that because I had no idea what a HUGE hit this costume would be!

I’m telling you! We have got about a gazillion (yes, that is an accurate number, I counted. lol) tutus, princess dresses, etc. and even the girls wait in line for their turn to be Wall-e! Even my grandma wanted to be Wall-e!! lol

What you’ll need:

• Small U-Haul box (16 ⅜″ x 12 ⅝″ x 12 ⅝″)
• Box Cutter
• Wax Paper
• Yellow, Grey, Black, & Red fabric (see step one)
• Yellow Bias Tape
• Yellow Embroidery Floss or thread (optional)
• Disappearing Fabric Marker
• Grey Thread
• Heat & Bond Ultra

Cut out all your pieces:

1) Use the list below to cut out all the fabric pieces. There are a lot of pieces, so you may want to label them by writing the letter on a small piece of paper and pinning it to each piece as you cut it out. I have included the letter of the pieces you will be working with in each step, so having them labeled will make it much easier to follow along.

Yellow Fabric:

{A} 2- 21″ x 17 ½″
{B} 2- 21″ x 13 ⅝″
{C} 1 – 13 ⅝″ x 17 ½″
{D} 3 – 8″ x ¾″
{E} 1 – 4″ x 2 ½″

Grey Fabric:

{F} 3- 3 ¼″ x 17 ½″
{G} 1 – 7 ½″ x 17 ½″
{H} 4 – 3 ¼″ x 13 ⅝″

Black Fabric:

{I} 1 – 5 ¾″ x 4 ¾″
{J} 1 – 2″ x 3″
{K} 1 – 2″ x 8″

Red Fabric:

{L} 1- 2 ½″ x 2 ½″
{M} 1 – 1″ x 1″

Make the Solar Charge Panel:

2) Write Solar Charge on top of {I}. I used my embroidery machine, but you could embroider it by hand or use puff paint…whatever is easiest for you. The top of the letters should be about ½″ below the top edge of {I}.

3) Iron {E}, {D}, {J}, {L}, {K}, & {M} to the Heat & Bond Ultra following the directions on the package. Do NOT remove the paper backing yet. Set aside {D}, {J}, {L}, {K}, & {M} .

4) Once it has cooled, cut {E} it into:

 6 – ¼″ x 2 ½″ rectangles
1 – ⅝″ x 2 ½″ rectangle
1 – ⅝″ circle (for the sun)
12- ⅜″ x ⅛″ rectangles (for the sun)

5) Remove the paper backing from each and arrange them on the solar panel {I}, as pictured above. Iron them on according the the Heat & Bond instructions. You may want to iron each piece individually to be sure none of them move when you iron them on.

6) Turn the raw edges of the solar panel {I} under ¼″ and press. Set aside.

Prepare the Front Grey Trim {G}:

7)Use your fabric marker to draw (see diagram here) :

A) 2 lines – one 4 ⅛″ from each of {G}’s short edges
B) 4 – ¾″ x 3 ¼″ rectangles; the bottom edges of B1 should be about 1 ½″ from the bottom of {G}. The bottom edges of B2 should be about 3″ from the top of B1.
C) 1- 3″ x 3 ⅝″ rectangle; left side should be about ⅜″ from A1 and the top edge should be about 1 ⅛″ from the top of {G}
D) 1 – 1 ¾″ x 1 ¼″ rectangle; left edge should be about 1″ from A1 and bottom edge should be about ¾″ from the bottom edge of {G}.

8) Zigzag over the lines and rectangles you made with the grey thread.

9) Pin the Solar Panel {I} to the Front Grey Trim {G} as pictured above and edge stitch in place.

10) Remove the paper backing from the red 1″ x 1″ square {M}, and center it in D (the 1 ¾″ x 1 ¼″ rectangle you zigzaged). Iron on according to the Heat & Bond instructions.

11) Round the four corners and remove the paper backing from {J}. Then, cut it into 12- ½″ x 1″ rectangles. Arrange them as pictured above in C (the 3″ x 3 ⅝″ rectangle you zigzaged), and iron on according to the Heat & Bond instructions. Whew! We are done with the the grey front trim!!

Attach grey trim to yellow panels:

12) Fold up the bottom edge of each {D, E, & F} to the WRONG side ½″; press.

13) With the WRONG side of the grey trim {D, E, & F} facing the RIGHT side of the yellow panels, match the top raw edges of

~ {G} to the top raw edges of one of the {A} Panels

Note: {G} should be completed at this point. As I mentioned before, I made this a couple years ago when I first started sewing, and I’ve since figured out a easier way to put it together, so some of the pics may not exactly match the instructions.

 2 {H}’s to the 2 {B} panels
1 {H} to the other {A} panel

14) Baste around the sides and edge stitch across the bottom. Then, finish the sides and top edge of the {A} & {B} panels by overcasting, serging, or zigzaging.

15) For the top {C}, pin the remaining {H} trims to the short sides of {C}, and the remaining {F} trims to the long sides. (The WRONG side of the grey trim {F & H} should be facing the RIGHT side of the yellow panel {C}.) Baste along the perimeter, then finish the raw edges of {C}. Edge stitch the exposed folded edges of {F & H}.

Make the neck opening:

16) Fold the top {C} in half one way then the other.

 17) Measuring from the center of {C}, make 4-5 marks 3.5 inches from the center. Connect the dots to make an arc, and cut it out.

It should look like this when you open it.

 Make the armholes:

18) Fold the side panels in half longways to find the center. Measure 3 ¼″ down from the top at the center and mark with a fabric marker. Then, make marks 1.5″ to the left and right of that center mark. Finally, make a mark 2.5″ directly below each of the three marks you just made. Connect all the marks to form a rectangle then, cut it out.

 19) Finish the armholes and neck opening with the bias tape. (You can check out this post if you need more info on how to apply the bias tape.)

 Finish the Front Panel:

20) Remove the paper backing from the 3 {D} pieces and iron them onto the Front yellow panel just below the grey trim. Attach one in the center and the other two about 4 ⅝″ to either side of it.

21) Cut out an 8 ½ x 11″ piece of freezer paper, and print the Wall-e graphic on it. Be sure to insert it into the printer so that it will print on the paper side. Iron the “Wall-” to {K} and the “e” to {L} on the fabric sides. Use this as a template to cut out the “WALL-E”. Remove the paper backing and iron them to the bottom right corner as pictured. (The wearer’s left)

Put it all together:

22) With the RIGHT sides facing, pin each of the sides to the front; stitch together using a ⅜″ seam allowance. Press the seams open and stitch the seam allowance down ¼″ on either side of the seam (you can see this stitching in the pic above). Repeat to stitch the sides to the back. You should now have a box shape.

23) Turn the box inside out, and with RIGHT sides together, pin the top to the front, back, and sides; stitch together with a ⅜″ seam allowance. Trim the corners.

24) Turn the raw edge up on the hem ⅜″; press; turn it up another ⅜″; press; stitch.

25) Close the top 4 flaps of the box and tape closed. Do NOT bend the bottom flaps. Keep them connected.

26) Fit the slipcover over the box and trace the arm holes and neck opening. Remove the slip cover and use your box cutter (or a pair of scissors) to cut out the openings from the box.

27) Put the slipcover back over the box and try it on!!

Hope you enjoy! I would love for you to share pics on my FB page if you make one!! I love seeing things made from my tutorials!!!

Thanks so much for having me Andrea!!