Zombie Pregnancy
ZOMBIE PREGNANCY
Zombie Pregnancy was my first attempt at making a more realistic zombie costume for a Halloween Party full of medical people. They have a sick sense of humor and would not be grossed out by the fine details. More importantly, I did not want this to look like a plastic store-bought costume and wanted to show off my ability to create. The fine details of this costume make it so realistic, that people seriously did a double take! Plus, I was able to purchase all of my supplies for under $30.00! What a deal! Although anyone can do this, it is not a one day job. You need to allow time for the foam to expand and dry before carving it, and there is no way to rush that. But trust me, it is worth the wait!
Supplies
***Important Note: This costume requires time to allow the foam to dry, be built up a second or third time, dry, and then be painted. This can take a couple of days to a whole week, depending upon how much you do at once.
SUPPLIES:
· A small, realistic looking baby doll slightly smaller than a real infant.
I found mine at Walmart. She was a little pricey because she was a complete baby. Many in the stores have cloth arms or legs, or stuffed bodies. But as you can see from the photo, mine was more anatomical. This helps a lot with the realism.
· A cord or twisted twine.
I went to the Salvation Army store for mine. It was originally a tie back cord for drapery. The color doesn’t matter, as it will be spray painted. But if you have the choice, anything tan or gray is best.
· A t-shirt for your “pregnant belly”.
It will be permanently affixed to the belly portion, so anything that fits you snuggly will work. You want this one to fit snug! It will carry the weight of the belly and baby doll. If it is too loose, the belly will sag and hang too low.
· A maternity shirt for the Mom zombie.
I found this hilarious maternity T shirt at Walmart for just $5. The fact that it said “snacking for two”, really made it worth it. I appreciate humor.
· Thick leggings or tights, or maternity leggings
· Spray foam, at least two cans- possibly three depending upon your size.
· Plastic garbage bags to protect clothing and surroundings.
· Spray paint (red, blue)
· Hot glue or gorilla glue
· Face paint
· Fake blood
· Knife or drywall hand saw
· Sand paper (optional)
· Brown packing tape
Glue Umbilical Cord to Baby!
Glue umbilical cord to baby (please remove all the clothing first) using either hot glue or gorilla glue.
· Note: you want the cord long enough to stay attached to baby, if you decide to pull the baby out and chew on it. I made mine 28 inches long.
Create the Belly!
Create the belly. *Remember you want the bottom half to be like a basket, supporting and holding the baby when you are wearing the shirt.
· Put on the t-shirt that will be your “pregnant belly”. Measure the height at width you want the belly to be on yourself. It does not have to be exact. Mark it with a marker on your shirt. Because it will be foam, you will be able to shape it with a knife to make it smooth and angled as needed. And if it is too big, you can chop some off. If it is too small, you can add foam, but that will extend the time needed to make it and structurally, it will not be as strong.
· Once you have your approximate height and width drawn on your shirt, remove it and place it onto the table. Use a plastic garbage bag to layer in between the front and back of the shirt. Make sure the plastic extends out below the level of the t-shirt. This is necessary because you may need or want to tuck-in the shirt and have the belly extend below your waist line. Remember, you can always remove excess, but it is better to have a solid original form to cut back if needed.
· Draw an oval. Using the height and width for what you drew while wearing the t-shirt as your boundaries. You want the shape to be egg-like: i.e., narrower at the top, fuller and wider at the bottom. Place the baby onto the t-shirt head down, with its arms and legs folded as small as you can make it. DOES IT FIT in the outline of the belly? If not, make your outline large enough at the bottom to allow the baby to fit.
· Spray foam starting at the top (under the breasts) and follow the outline on the t-shirt along the egg-shape and back up to the top, continue until you have 3 layers for the outline. Do a 4th layer over the bottom 2/3. Now, fill in one layer to create the BACK of the belly where it will be against you. Let it rise. It is really important to let the foam do its thing. IF you try to rush it and do too many layers, it sags and lags and will take forever to dry and harden. Do not worry if it is lumpy and bumpy.
· Once risen and dry (firm), start to build the shape of the belly. Again, keeping the egg-shape, narrower on the top, fuller on the bottom. I found a single layer on the top and two layers on the bottom to work well, using continuous flow from the foam. LET IT RISE, dry and harden again.
· Finally, you want to complete the outer rim of the belly. Place your baby doll on the table, head down, next to the belly and view from the side. Is the belly high enough that the baby can fit inside? It is ok if the back of the baby will meet up (be level) with the height of the belly, but you do not want it to extend beyond it. Because we hollow out the inside a bit once it is totally dry, down towards where the head will go (low in the belly), the baby usually fits nicely and its back tilts inward. So- you have some room for error here.
· Once you see how much higher you have to go, start again at the top and foam continuously around the oval forming a single layer on the top and two layers on the bottom. Use continuous flow from the foam and slowly move towards the center to start angling the belly to make it come together. LET IT RISE, dry and harden again.
· Now you can shape the belly. Using a knife, you want to carve out the inside of the belly to allow for the baby to fit, head down. Careful, to keep the bottom portion intact as much as possible. This will support the baby’s weight and allow for a “pocket” where the head will go. So that area will need to be much smaller- as far as “open space”. The upper belly, however is where you will access the baby, so you can open it up more. Be sure to keep the sides curving out and in, hollowing out the inside like a cave. You want this similar to an egg shell. The shape really depends on the baby doll you are using. Feel free to slide the baby into the shell, head down to see if it fits, has room enough to be snug, but accessible. Also, occasionally stand up the shirt vertically to see if the bottom segment will cover enough of the baby’s head and shoulders to hold it in when you are wearing the shirt. Remember you need the bottom half thicker and curved upward to hold the baby like a basket.
· Try your shirt on! Make adjustments in shape, size, and support. Remember no one will see the edges of the belly since your maternity shirt will go over the top. The key is to make sure the baby is firmly secure inside the void, but accessible if you want to pull it out. If you need to, you can add foam as needed. You can even use bits or chunks of the cut pieces to layer inside the lower portion to create a “lip” to hold the baby more securely. You can either use gorilla glue, or more spray foam to do this.
· Once your belly is sized properly, baby fits snugly, and you are happy with the inside of belly; it is time to shape the outside. Using a knife or drywall saw, start smoothing out all the bumps. I tried sanding it smooth, but it made it too messy for me. I found that simply taking my hand over a bump, cutting it off and then feeling it again was enough. It does not have to be perfect. Again, you will have a shirt OVER it, so you just need to remove large, obvious projections.
Once dry, attach the baby’s cord to the inside, back portion of the belly. Using gorilla glue or more foam spray, take the end of the cord and secure it. It does not matter if it creates a little bump in there, that is fine.
PAINT
PAINT!
· The cord should be attached to belly inside on one end and to the baby on the other. Place the baby OUTSIDE the belly and away from it (as far as the cord will allow).
· Spray foam is an awesome beige color and base. Using the blue and red spray paint, you want to lightly and irregularly paint the inside compartment of the belly. It will be dark in there, and you do not have to worry or be precise with this.
· Make sure you paint the outside rim and extend red paint approximately 3 inches of a border on the outside of the belly. This is important so that when you put the maternity shirt over top, you have a bloody look underneath where the holes are.
· Spray the cord. Using diagonal lines on it, alternating red and blue, follow the cord up to the baby, ending with red where it touches the baby. Again, this does not have to be perfect.
· Roughly, spray paint the baby lightly with red paint being careful NOT to overdo it, you want him/her to look bloody, but still allow skin tone to show. It is dark in the belly, so the skin tone lightens it up so you can tell it is a baby.
· Once dry, place the baby in the belly, tucking the cord inside but loop between the baby’s legs.
Maternity Shirt!
Maternity shirt!
· Try on your baby/belly t-shirt. Is it secure? Comfortable? If you need “more security”, or your t-shirt seems loose with the weight of the pregnancy- you can use the beige packing tape to wrap, or tighten the belly along the top, bottom or both. It will be removeable, so if you need to use it, you can attach where needed. I considered using it in the shape of suspenders, over the shoulders and down around the bottom of the belly. But in the end, I did not need to do this.
· Put on your maternity shirt over the top.
· Use a knife to cut out- ROUGHLY- around the opening of the belly, using rips and tears to make it look like you ripped your shirt open. Feel free to leave strips intact across the opening if you want. If you do not plan on pulling out the baby for effect, this is not an issue. BUT if you really want to gross people out and pretend to gnaw on the baby, you will want the strips ONLY along the edges so it will not prevent you from pulling the baby out. I found it helpful to keep strips vertical and on the side edges specifically, so that you could see red from the belly underneath, but the maternity shirt still covered up the majority of the belly.
The Bottoms!
The Bottoms!
· You could honestly wear any pants, but I preferred to use a pair of thick (winter) maternity leggings. I was able to pull them up over my belly. (making the belly even smoother.)
· I kept the waistband intact, which made it more supportive but still allowed me to create a hole where you could easily see the baby/belly inside for the upper portion, while keeping the lower portion solid. (covering up the bottom of the belly completely) So if my shirt was shorter, you would not see the foam at all.
· If your maternity shirt is longer, you may not need to do this. But if it is shorter like mine was, it was nice to know if people bent over to get close and look, they did not see any of my under-work.
Makeup!
Makeup!
· Zombie yourself up!
· White/gray for skin, and red for blood.
· Don’t forget your arms, neck and chest, whatever skin is exposed.
· Feel free to apply fake blood to your mouth, shirt and hands.
· You can use red spray paint on your maternity shirt to make it more solid, but I chose the fake blood. In hindsight, the paint would have stayed brighter throughout the night.
Take Pictures!
Take pictures!
· Because we all want to see your creations!!!