Game Boy Costume

Even though my son is more of a 3DS kinda kid, he loves vintage video games and all things Nintendo so he decided this year he wanted to be and oldskool Nintendo Game Boy for Halloween. Here's how I made him one with my sewing machine.

Step 1: Assemble the Button Parts

It would have been much easier just to paint the buttons on, but I tend to do things the hard way.

I collected beige, black, gray, red, and tan vinyl and cut out shapes for the buttons, speakers, screen, etc. I carefully ironed on HeatnBond Lite (my favorite thing in the world) to the backs of the shapes and carefully ironed them onto the beige. This helped to hold the shapes in place when I sewed a zig-zag stitch around the edges.

Tip: Never iron vinyl directly. Always put a layer of cotton fabric overtop to prevent the iron from melting the vinyl.

Step 2: Cut Out the Foam.

I hot glued together 2 foam squares 2 inches thick, then trimmed it into the shape of a Game Boy and cut out a square for the screen.

Step 3: Make the See-through Screen.

My son wanted his face to be obscured behind the screen using the same black netting I used for his last year's Spy vs. Spy costume eyes. I ironed HeatnBond Lite strips around the inside edges of the cut-out screen, then carefully ironed on a square of black netting. Then I repeated the process with another square of netting becaust the 2 layers created a pixelated effect. Then I stitched around the edge to secure it.

Step 4: Cut Out Fabric for the Back.

Using my decorated front vinyl piece as a pattern I cut out some black fleece for the back.

Step 5: Make a Strip Around the Edge.

I cut out a strip of tan vinyl 2.5-inches wide and as long as the Game Boy was all the way around. Then I sewed it to the front vinyl and then sewed that to the black fleece.

Step 6: Step 6: Attach the Straps.

I cut 4 holes in the foam and inserted 2 strips of vinyl webbing, crossed them in the front, added a square of vinyl to the front to keep it from tearing the foam, carefully inserted the foam structure into the fabric Game Boy, and made holes in the fleece for the straps and the screen. I then folded the fleece around the screen inward and hot-glued them down. Next I hand stitched the opening at the bottom shut.

Step 7: Step 7: Add the Graphics.

I wrote out the words by hand using colored Sharpies. I also added highlight lines to the buttons with a silver Sharpie.

Step 8: Step 8: You're Done!

We simply tied the the straps together in the back and he was ready to go. Here he is with his sister who wanted to be a My Little Pony (I'll add that tutorial soon). I guess the theme this year was toys from the 80s. They're totally radical children.