Home » Character Costumes » Animated Character Costumes » Cars (Disney) Costumes » Coolest Homemade Tow Mater from Disney’s Cars Costume

Coolest Homemade Tow Mater from Disney’s Cars Costume

My four year old son requested to be Mater this year. I usually use this website for ideas, but surprisingly there were no submissions for a Homemade Tow Mater from Disney’s Cars Costume.

Using his toy Mater as a guide, I drew one side on a thick piece of cardboard, cut it out and traced the other side to match. I then drew the front and back to the width of his body. It is easy to make a costume like this larger than needed, so make sure to fit it to the child’s size. Using lighter cardboard to make the hood and back, bend the edges to secure the sides, front and bumper together. Original tacky glue works very well for a costume that will be abused. It is also important to reinforce the corners and lighter sections with heavy pieces of cardboard.

After drawing the lettering on the door, I used acrylic paint which worked well to cover the cardboard. Layering two shades of brown, black, blue and sea green made it appear old and rusted. The boom was made of two empty paper towel rolls. The tow straps and hook were made of vinyl which was cut and painted. The shoulder straps were the same material, just cut and glued inside.

Finally, a “tap light” was tied to Mater’s “working” headlight with floral wire, which was very cute and safer when trick or treating at night. In the end I had about $10.00 in supplies and too many hours to count. My son did get a lot of compliments, so it was well worth the time spent.



Coolest Homemade Costume Contest 2023

5 thoughts on “Coolest Homemade Tow Mater from Disney’s Cars Costume”

  1. Yours came out exactly like the picture I have in my head for my daughter’s Mater costume. Hope mine ends up looking as good. Yours looks awesome!

    Reply
  2. Hi, I am in the process of making a Mater costume for my 3-year old son.. I loved the way yours turned out. I am wondering, though, if you could give me more details on how you painted it/what type of paint you used. Is this acrylic paint in the bottle, like you would buy at Joann’s Fabrics? Did you just use a paint brush? How did you get the “speckled” look with the light blue paint? Sorry for all the questions, but if you any advice, that would be great!!! Thanks!

    -Lindsay

    Reply
  3. Would you be able to make one for my son who is 3? I will pay for it of course! You can email me at acegirls21[at]gmail[dot]com

    Thanks
    Janine

    Reply

Leave a Comment