Silent Hill Nurse Costume

Intro: Silent Hill Nurse Costume

This is my first instructable, so wish me luck. c:

Basically, this is how to make all of the components of a Silent Hill nurse costume; so that includes shoes, tights, dress, mask, hat, and makeup.

Anyway, I did this for Halloween 2008 (sorry this is so late..:( ), and it was a great success. Everyone seemed to love it, but I remember looking everywhere for help on how to do this. I wound up having next to no luck, and figured that I may as well make an instructable to help others with the task, cause it's not an uncommon costume.

Also..leave yourself a bit of time for this. I somehow managed to complete it in three days (once I got the pattern in the mail), but if you want to do a fantastic job, I'd take more time on it. It didn't come out as well as I'd expected, unfortunately. Additionally, I apologize for lack of step by step pictures, and the fact that the the pictures are so low quality..I don't have a real camera besides that on my cell phone. I decided to make this once I was well done with it, so next time I submit something it'll be better, I promise. Either way, here goes. :)

STEP 1: What You'll Need

You will need:
-Shirt Dress pattern (most will do, just try to get one similar to the costume. You'll be shortening it after. I used McCalls M4769)
-1 Yard of White or Off-White linen & all the fixin's..buttons or velcro, thread, etc. (I wouldn't place any bets on the amount of fabric used, cause I reused a costume I previously made. Just follow what's on the pattern for your size, and a little extra for the hat.)
-Plaster Strips
-A Plastic Bag
-Scissors
-Tea
-White & Clear spray paint (Optional..but you can get 'em at cheapie stores for a buck apiece.)
-Acrylic Paints (brown, light brown, dark green, black, and red)
-Fake blood (Also optional, but very useful. Only downside is if it dries on your fabric it tends to look a little pinker than one would like)
-White tights
-Old pantyhose or knee high..something like that.
-White high heels or flats (since I did the costume last minute I'm afraid I didn't have a chance to get a pair of heels I didn't mind messing up..I'm sad about it. :c )
-Paintbrushes & Newspaper
-An outfit you don't mind screwing up in the process

STEP 2: Dress & Hat

Sewing patterns are fairly straightforward, so just follow the instructions for your size as far as the dress is concerned. Cut out the pattern, pin it, cut out your pieces, unpin, pin pieces together, sew, lather, rinse, repeat..you get the picture. If you have the time and patience (which I most certainly DO NOT), you can choose to handsew it. However, if you've lazy and/or cramming for time, like yours truly, just sew it by machine. Much faster and easier.

Once complete with the dress, put it on, and mark how short you'd like it to be. Simply trim it..no need to hem, it's not like this is going on project runway..could you imagine?

The hat isn't as simple as the dress. This was the one component of the costume that I had outside help from: I found this website.

http://sewing.about.com/library/blnurse1.htm
http://sewing.about.com/library/nnurse.htm (this link is the pattern)

It's very clear, just don't starch it or make it out of cardboard like the website suggests.

Boil a big pit of water, and put about five teabags in it. I used earl grey, don't use anything fruity or you might not get the color you're looking for. Put the dress, hat, and white tights into it for about five minutes. Take them out and hang them to dry.

Once your done with that..onto the mask!

STEP 3: The Mask

Defenitely the most time costuming step. I made it in an odd way, but it worked out spectacularly. Put the plastic bag over your head, and quickly mark with a sharpie where your eyes and mouth are. Remove the bag, and cut out small enough holes so you can see and breathe, but not too small..for obvious reasons. Anyway, put the bag back on your head, and go crazy with the plaster strips. I did about three or four layers, and make the last layer kind of chunky. Make sure you go over the top of your head, but not so far back that you won't be able to get it off in one piece. Try and make it so you still have the eye and mouth holes open, but slightly concealed. Paint will help with this effect, plus once it's on your face it'll look better. Carefully remove the mask, and place it over an overturned bowl or something of the sort to help it keep it's shape while it's wet and sorta flimsy.

Once dry, water down some light brown paint and go over the entire thing once, and then use the dark brown, black, and red (slightly watered down, not nearly as much as the one your used all over) and do detailing. Making it darker by the eyes and mouth helps to conceal the fact that they're there.

Once this is dry, get the old pantyhose. Cut out two 2" x 2" squares, and superglue them over the eyes..this also helps to conceal them when the mask is on your face.

Lastly, go over the entire thing (inside and out) with the clear spray paint a few times. I believe I did three layers total.

STEP 4: Shoes

I reaaaally wish I could have had heels for this, but I had an old pair of flats that were near dead anyway, so I used them instead.

Not a huge step, just spray paint the shoes you plan to use with the white, I did about four layers since these started out black. Do the same type of procedure you did with the mask with these, like the watered down brown first, then the detailing paint. Just kinda go all over, it doesn't need to look perfect.

STEP 5: Destruction!

Go in the bathtub in an outfit you don't mind screwing up. It might not even be permanent, but I didn't want to risk it. Lay your dress, hat, and tights flat. I crumpled up newspaper, dipped it in paints, and started going to town over the dress, just smear here, wipe here, water down and splatter over here..it's pretty easy. Just make sure to get it all over! Flip your pieces when you're done with one side, and don't forget the back; I almost did.

When you're done, just hang these babies on a hanger and wait for them to air dry..I wouldn't put them in the dryer if I were you..you'd get paint and fake blood everywhere.

When the hat is dry, put the mask on and arrange the hat how you'd like on the mask. Superglue that in place, and you're good to go.

STEP 6: Finalizing

As far as finishing up goes, just put on your tights, shoes, dress & mask, and pour some of the fake blood into a cup. Grab a spoon and drizzle and smear it over your body, so it looks fresh when you'll be wearing it.

Now go scare the ickle childrens and show your silent hill pride. :D
Only downside is you get a bit iffy from the fumes inside the mask..it can get to you after a while.
It's alllll good.

Comments

[JuliaL61]

Just stumbled upon this instructable. I know it's been awhile, but do you remember if the neckline for this pattern is simple to adjust. I'd really like a low neckline, and some of the other pictures of this completed pattern on Google Images look as if the neckline is a bit high for my taste.

[depty]

Thank you for making this Instructable! It was my inspiration for my costume ;)

[woll.smoff]

I really like how u incorporated fused skin in with the bandage like they did in the movie, that's what I'm going to try n do with latex.. seen every tutorial on youtube, gonna use the elements that seem to work the best, but I'm modifying it so that I can still see/breathe and be able to drink beer lol (mouth flap haha).

[seabee890]

wonderfull costume great job.

[abeyley]

I followed this recipe along with others online (tutorials on YouTube) and made a killer costume that has so far won me all 3 contests I have entered. I have had people telling me that I had to have bought the costume. I've also had people wanting to buy this costume from me. My mask is a little bit different. I made it more wrinkled and skin like rather than cloth like. I spray painted it only once and painted the inside of the mask with white acrylic. I then coated the inside with black painty hose glued on with tacky glue. It allowed me to breathe comfortably without having plaster crumbling or a spray paint smell. It also covered the two holes I left for my eyes. I gave myself about a week and a half to work on it. The mask took three days as I allowed the plaster to dry. My uniform was actually a lab coat I had bought for a prior costume that I cut and mended. Using a "real uniform" gave it such a creepy realistic feel. I dyed panty hose and drew on the gross veins on my thighs and calves with a green Sharpie that had a thick and fine tip. I then went over some of the veins with grey marker to emphasize. I used the the green Sharpie and went over my natural veins on my arms, chest and drew on my neck. I went over that with Halloween makeup to get a zombie feel that matched my hose. I allowed the fake blood I used on my skin to sit out in a cup for a week so it could thicken. The blood was also mixed with one to two drops of black dye. I painted my fingernails and the skin around my nails with a dark green polish that made my fingertips look like they were rotting off. I put black acrylic paint on the ends of my hands and finished the look by wiping blood on my hands to look like I had cleaned my hands off on my uniform. I had a knife that I spray painted silver and added fake blood to in a wiping motion. The clear gloss spray paint coat really allowed the blood to look wet. This was by far one of my favorite art projects to have conquered! You can really use your imagination to put your own take on how you believe the nurses should look. I have been told that I looked exactly like the nurses in the movie. I plan to wear my costume to a future DragonCon. = D

[hillikitty]

just an idea, but you might want to try coating the inside of the mast with a plastic bag or glue it in there so your not smothered in fumes.  ya know?

[HAAAARICA]

 Yeah..I thought of that too, just a little too late, haha. If i ever have the opportunity to wear this costume again (which I'd love to do), I'll do that. 

[mtqueen]

You mentioned in the steps for the mask to put a plastic bag over your face to make the holes for the eyes and mouth. Did you not work up the mask from there? Also did you use a mannequin for the face?

Excellent tutorial by the way!! I was rethinking doing due to I did not want to use latex because of the smell. I guess plaster is not all that much better but have a plastic bag under does sound like it will ease some of the discomfort.

[grosiejosie12]

What does the white and clear spray do for the mask? Do I also need to get both or can I just get either one of them? I guess I'm being a bit of a cheappie, but the spray is essential than I'll definitely add it on the shopping list.

[TimTheScarecrow]

"Put the plastic bag over your head"

Genious! lol

[smannarino]

I may be a boy but I have a curvy body and I think this costume was perfection in every way. I plan to do this for Comic Con. Where can I find Plaster Strips though? Anyways, thanks for making this!

[CherryGirl14]

You can get plaster strips at any craft store like Michaels or even a fabric store like Jo-Anns may have it in there craft area! :D That would be awesome btw

[amandaggogo]

This is probably the best made Silent Hill Nurse costume I have ever seen.

[Shany120]

This thing is AWESOME! I might make one next year.

[jbussé]

that is messed up
in averry
verry
verry distubingly awesome way ...

well done !

[80$man]

epic!
well done!
enjoy halloween, I miss it so much!

[alexhider]

here's my last year costume, it was a BLAAAAAAST!
thank you :)

[bedheadboy]

Wow you are incredibly beautiful!
Hot costume. :)

[bwhack]

I'm doing this costume for a con I'm going to, and I was wondering, what kind of paint should I use if the shoes aren't fabric? Should I do them in tea and then do some detailing paint on them? I'm just wondering, cause I want to have it done by April, and I'm getting started on it soon, so I want to be able to know what the crap I'm doing.

[Titney75]

I was gonna be one of these for this past Halloween but didn't have enough time and definitely not enough resources. Anyways, I'm confused about what you are saying about the tights. Do you super glue them on the inside of the mask?...and how do you make it to where you can take it off and put it on easily?...And where do you get the plaster strips?