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Desert Chica

Southern Arizona Blogger

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No-Sew Inflatable Man Costume

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August 1, 2023 · Karen · 18 Comments

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My kids love seeing silly things anywhere and one of their favorite things is the inflatable tube man (also known as air dancers) that seem to dance by themselves on the side of the road. I couldn’t help make one more costume before Halloween, an inflatable tube-man costume.

Need a wacky, last minute costume idea? How about a no-sew inflatable tube man costume! Grab a couple of pop up of hampers and get started!
Pin this inflatable man costume idea, perfect for anyone that likes silly costumes from kids & tweens to teens & adults.
Want to download a printable copy of this tutorial? Check out my costume ebooks.

This inflatable tube guy is my silliest costume to date but Quinn also declared it the most fun. Just keep in mind it’s not really an inflatable suit but gives the illusion of inflatable tube men like you see at car dealerships. There is no battery-operated fan or aa batteries required but you can still be the life of the party with this goofy costume.

Before I even go into how I made it, you need to see the video of it in action, so you know why you NEED to make it too. Check out our video clips of the original wacky inflatable man in action.

 

A video posted by Karen ???? Desert Chica (@karenheffren) on Oct 24, 2016 at 10:43pm PDT

So fun, right?!? Luckily it’s totally no-sew and you can be put together in an afternoon! Keep reading to see how I made this wacky waving inflatable tube man costume. You will look just like the catchy advertisement at car lots!

inflatable-tube-man-costume-materials
Turn hampers into an inflatable tube man costume using duct tape and hem tape (instead of sewing it).

Make Inflatable Tube Man Arms

Start by cutting off the top and bottom of 2 hampers and then just the bottom of the third hamper. Use this extra material to create long red arm tubes.

I had just enough material to create this costume for my son, for an adult, I might have skipped reusing this material and just bought red plastic tablecloth covers to be sure I had enough material.

making-arms-for-inflatable-tube-man-costume
Use leftover hamper material or plastic table cloths to make the wacky waving arms.

Cut wide rectangles out of your material and then fold and “hem” into tubes using adjustable hem tape. It works like double-sided tape.

Because I repurposed the extra hamper material, I had to attach several tubes together to make the arms long enough. You want to make sure the tubes are longer than the length of your arm so you can flap them around wildly.

Attach Inflatable Tube Man Arms

attaching-arms-to-inflatable-tube-man-costume-tutorial
Where you attach the arms to the inflatable tube man costume makes a difference, it needs to be sized for the wearer.

Adding the arms to the costume is a little tricky. You want to have someone try it on first to determine where to cut the armholes.

I hadn’t attached the three hampers together yet at this point, so I gingerly stacked them together to get a feel for where the armholes should be when they were wearing the costume.

Cut Arm Holes for Inflatable Tube Man Costume

Once you decide where the arms should be, cut the armholes smaller than you think you need. You can always make them a little bit bigger if necessary.

Stick strips adjustable hem tape around the top edge of an arm and then attach the arms to the inside of armholes. Because it’s adjustable, it’s easy to reposition the placement of the tape as needed. Repeat on the other side.

Connect Inflatable Man Body

attaching-hampers-together-to-make-infltable-tube-man-costume
Connect 2 or 3 hampers together (depending on how tall you need it to be) using hem bonding strips.

To attach the three hampers together, I opted to use the Scotch Essentials Permanent Hem Bonding Strips. I needed something that would be heavier duty, so the adjustable hem tape wouldn’t work.

Cut the strips in half lengthwise and attach around the rim of one hamper. Once you are ready to attach two hampers together, remove all the paper backing and press two hamper edges together firmly.

Add Inflatable Tube Man Face

adding-the-face-to-inflatable-tube-man-costume
Add the silly face to the wacky waving inflatable tube man costume was my favorite part.

I used black and white duct tape to create the eyes. You can cut out paper circles first to play with size and placement before cutting your duct tape.

Remember always trace your design on parchment paper, cover the back with duct tape and then cut it out. Duct tape covered in parchment paper is much easier to cut.

I drew the mouth shape on paper first before cutting it out of my black mesh. Then I cut a hole on the costume face in the same shape and attached the mesh on top using more adjustable hem tape.

Be sure to make the hole smaller than you think, as you can always make the hole bigger if necessary. No eye screens are necessary since your can see and breathe through the mouth.

Waving Inflatable Arm Tube Halloween Costume

Need a wacky, last minute costume idea? How about a no-sew inflatable tube man costume! Grab a couple of pop up of hampers and get started!
No batteries required for this inflatable tube man costume. Just the energy of a crazy kid, teen or adult.

Ready to make your own Inflatable Tube Man Costume? Gather up the supplies and get going!

Inflatable Tube Man Costume Supplies

  • 3 solid color pop up hampers
  • black and white duct tape
  • black mesh
  • Adjustable Hem Tape
  • Permanent Hem Bonding Strips
Want to download a printable copy of this tutorial? Check out my costume ebooks.
Need a wacky, last minute costume idea? How about a no-sew inflatable tube man costume! Grab a couple of pop up of hampers and get started!
This costume is fun for a Halloween party or costume contest but it might be hard to go trick or treating in it.

This costume is really easy to make. If you are making this for a little kid, you might only need 2 hampers to cover the full body of a shorter person.. Who else would love to dance in this costume at their next costume party?

inflatable-tube-man-costumes
An inflatable man costume with wacky arms is a silly costume idea for kids through adults.

More Funny Costume Ideas

  • Fat Thor Costume
  • Skeleton VSCO Boy Costume
  • Cat burglar costume

Buy Inflatable Halloween Costumes

We tend to DIY or wear semi-homemade costumes but we can appreciate some good adult inflatable costume ideas like an inflatable t-rex costume perfect for a Jurassic World costume theme. I’ve even seen some cute or crazy looking inflatable baby boy or baby girl costumes. And speaking of crazy, don’t miss this silly inflatable kool-aid man costume.

Note: This post was originally published October 25, 2016 for Scotch Essentials.

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Comments

  1. Kelly says

    October 25, 2016 at 7:10 am

    Karen!!! This is amazing. I love this idea.

    Reply
  2. Vikki says

    October 25, 2016 at 7:43 am

    Best costume I’ve seen this year! My son used to call these “windy guys.”

    Reply
  3. Kara Miller says

    October 25, 2016 at 9:56 am

    I love this costume so much! Those air dancers always crack me up on the side of the road 🙂 Love how you used Scotch™ Essentials to make this awesome no-sew costume! #client

    Reply
  4. Keriann S says

    September 15, 2018 at 6:44 am

    this is such a brilliant idea!! love it! : D

    Reply
    • Karen says

      September 15, 2018 at 2:00 pm

      Thanks!

      Reply
  5. Celeste says

    October 1, 2018 at 10:35 am

    My 8 year old would LOVE this! Do you think a kiddo could walk in it and trick-or-treat safely? Bend his knees to walk or take a few porch steps up to the door? Carry his treat bag? Thank you so much for the pattern!

    Reply
    • Karen says

      October 1, 2018 at 1:53 pm

      I totally think it’s possible. The hampers are pretty wide, so I can’t imagine there’d be any trouble bending his knees. You’d just want to make sure the arm placement was good for him, at a comfortable height so he can hold his trick or treat bag. And of course, make sure the mesh mouth is in a good spot so he can see well too.

      Reply
  6. Erin says

    October 3, 2018 at 7:32 am

    Where did you get your pop up hampers?

    Reply
    • DCR2008Support says

      October 3, 2018 at 7:38 am

      Mine were ordered from Walmart.com a few years ago, they are very similar to these ones on Amazon – https://amzn.to/2xWxZB6

      Reply
  7. Tracy says

    October 15, 2018 at 5:01 pm

    I think that’s a adorable I’m gonna use it for my kid bc she can’t decide what to do for Halloween????????????????????????????????????????????????????

    Reply
    • Karen says

      October 18, 2018 at 9:06 pm

      Sounds like a great idea!

      Reply
  8. Jen says

    October 23, 2018 at 4:31 pm

    I put the arm holes in proper spot to hold treat bag and move around a bit , but the whole thing keeps sliding down . Any thoughts..was thinking I needed to suspend it from shoulders? Or figure out a way to keep it up while wearing.

    Reply
    • Karen says

      October 24, 2018 at 12:37 pm

      Hmmm, I am not sure. Can you attach suspenders somehow?

      Reply
  9. Sarah says

    October 30, 2018 at 12:18 pm

    I am making this for my son but I am confused when you say cut the bottoms and tops off of two hampers. How did you cut through the thick wire? Ehere do you make the cuts?

    Reply
    • Karen says

      October 30, 2018 at 12:35 pm

      I just cut off the top fabric, so the hampers become more like tunnels.

      Reply
  10. Luke says

    October 20, 2019 at 7:25 pm

    thats expensive!!!

    Reply
    • Karen says

      October 21, 2019 at 7:55 am

      I’ve seen the pop-up hampers at Walmart for $5 in store, you can always shop around and try and find a deal. Good luck.

      Reply

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Hi! I’m Karen.

I'm a mom to two boys, Arizona native, and travel lover. Desert Chica is my place to share a peek into our life and the easy and inexpensive costumes, crafts and desserts I like to make. “If I can do it, anyone can!” Learn more about me here.

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6313 shares