Monday, November 10, 2014

My Kevin (from Up) Running Costume #runDisney


As you know, Handsome Jack and I signed up for the 2015 #DopeyChallenge. the Dopey Challenge is 4 races over 4 days beginning with a 5k and increasing in distance, culminating with a full marathon. Having run a few Disney races already I knew I wanted to do costumes for Dopey.


Whether you’re planning your first Disney race or your tenth, you may want to consider a costume. See my post about Disney races and costumes here.

Four races means four costumes, right? So far I've covered my Tinker Bell costume and my Rapunzel costume.

Today I want to reveal my *new* favorite costume - my Kevin (from Up) costume.


Up is a terrific movie. The first ten minutes reach into your chest, grab hold of your heart, and rip it right out. But afterwards, the adventure the heroes go on is fabulous and extraordinary. There are highs and lows, relatable characters, and an easy-to-hate villain. So, basically, all the fun elements I love and admire in a good story.

After we picked UP I knew I wanted to be Kevin, the bird Russell finds and befriends. Here's my inspiration.


I love how colorful she is. I especially love her deep blues. I planned on using a blue tank top and black shorts that I had laying around to evoke the deeper colors of Kevin.

But how could I evoke the colorful, bulbous bottom of the giant bird?

Why, with a running tutu of course.


Running tutu's are fluffy and full and would certainly evoke the bird-like shape. My first thought was to buy a tutu from one of the fabulous vendors on Etsy. When that didn't work out I decided to make my own.

I watched some fun tutu tutorials on YouTube, went to the craft store, and got to work. I started with black, crocheted elastic (the layers of holes were essential for this tutu).


I measured around my waist and cut the elastic. Now, the tutorials tell you to reduce the size of your waist by a few inches because you don't want your tutu to be baggy. Be sure to do this. It's essential.

Next, I stretched my elastic around a carry-on suitcase.
No, I'm not crazy. Stretching the elastic around the carry-on allowed me easier access to the holes in the elastic.

Now for the fun: I decided the front would be shorter than the back. I cut my tulle into strips and started threading them through the elastic.


The length of the colors and sections used increased as I made my way around the tutu. I took full advantage of all the holes available in the crocheted elastic.



Note: This was an expensive tutu because I used a little bit of a lot of colors. I hope to use my remainder pieces (that's what we called scrap fabric when I worked at a craft store) on a future project.

Here's pic of the finished tutu.




Along with the tank, shorts, and tights the costume is nearly complete. I felt the outfit was incomplete without a headpiece. Kevin's got these adorable feathers on her head and so, obvi, my outfit needed a headpiece.

My first approach was to buy real peacock feathers to a blue running cap. But, the blue of my hat didn't match the blue of my tank top. It was glaring enough that I decided to go a different way.

I had a hair comb that I wasn't using. I bought some teal, sequined flower picks from the craft store. Next, I bought a small spool of matching ribbon. I used hot glue to attach the flower picks to the hair comb. Then I wrapped the teal ribbon around the comb and glued it down. Here's a finished pic.


Love this costume! The tutu is fluffy and pretty.



I don't have a hat/visor for this one so I'll likely wear it on the shortest race, the 5k. I love my Rapunzel outfit but I think I love this Kevin costume even more. I bet it will be a crowd favorite. I can't wait to run in this!!



Decided on a #runDisney costume? Already run a race in costume? Share your stories and advice here in the comments.


Want some running costume ideas? Check out these awesome blogs and tutorials:

from Mom's Magical Miles - costume ideas

from Adventures of a Desi Blonde - Alien from Toy Story

from Karen Chu - costume ideas

from You Signed Up For What - race recap with costume pics


Tutu tutorial here and here




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