How to Make a Mummy Costume
Transform yourself into an authentic, weathered ancient mummy using distressed tea-dyed muslin wraps, layered wrapping techniques, and textured SFX makeup.
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🧰 Required Tools & Equipment
- ✓ Fabric shears
- ✓ Large soaking tub
- ✓ Hairdryer
- ✓ Makeup sponge wedges
- ✓ Safety pins
📦 Materials & Supplies
- ✓ 5 yards unbleached cotton muslin fabric
- ✓ 15 black tea bags
- ✓ 3 tbsp instant coffee grounds
- ✓ Liquid latex or water-based skin adhesive
- ✓ White or beige thermal base layer shirt and pants
- ✓ Gray and dark brown SFX makeup cream palette
⚠️ Safety Checkpoints & Warnings
- • Perform a 24-hour skin patch test with liquid latex and makeup on your inner forearm before application.
- • Never wrap muslin tightly around your neck or chest to prevent restricting your breathing and circulation.
- • Leave clear openings around the nostrils and mouth when layering facial wraps to ensure proper ventilation.
📋 Step-by-Step Guide (6 Steps)
Tear Muslin into Weathered Strips
Use fabric shears to make small 3-inch snips along the selvage edge of the unbleached muslin fabric. Grip each side of the cut and rip the fabric firmly across the entire grain to create natural, frayed edges rather than clean scissor cuts. Repeat until you have approximately 25 to 30 long strips varying between 2 and 4 inches in width.
- • A large pile of long fabric ribbons with frayed, stringy edges
- • Consistent 2-4 inch widths across all torn strips
- • Cutting entire strips with scissors which creates unnatural, clean modern edges
Stain and Age Fabric with Tea and Coffee
Fill a large tub with boiling hot water, then steep 15 black tea bags and 3 tablespoons of instant coffee granules for 10 minutes to make a dark dye bath. Submerge all torn muslin strips into the liquid, agitating them thoroughly with a spoon to ensure uneven, aged saturation. Let the fabric soak for 20 minutes, wring out excess liquid, and dry completely using a clothesline or hairdryer.
- • Fabric displays mottled, ancient-looking yellowish-brown tones with darker splotches
- • Completely dry, slightly stiffened fabric ready for wrapping
- • Rinsing the strips with fresh water after dyeing, which washes out the rich aged patina
Dress in Base Layers and Wrap Extremities
Put on a tight-fitting beige or off-white thermal top and bottom to create a protective barrier between your skin and the wrappings. Begin wrapping individual limbs starting from the ankles and wrists, spiraling upward and overlapping each layer by half an inch. Secure strip ends to the base garment with small safety pins positioned on the inner, hidden folds.
- • Legs and arms fully covered with overlapping, textured fabric
- • Base layer hidden completely beneath the wrap layers
- • Wrapping limbs too tightly, which restricts normal movement and bends at knees and elbows
Wrap the Torso and Distress Loose Ends
Wind broader strips horizontally around your abdomen and chest, crossing them in diagonal X-patterns across the shoulders and ribcage for structural depth. Leave a few frayed ends hanging loose by 6 to 12 inches to simulate deteriorating embalming cloths. Tack intersecting points with safety pins pinned internally through the base shirt.
- • A continuous, interwoven mummy wrap across the entire body core
- • Dangling tattered ribbon ends around the waist and hips
- • Using single horizontal loops without crossing strips, resulting in a flat, one-dimensional look
Apply Decayed Skin Makeup Effects
Stipple dark brown and ashen gray cream makeup into the eye sockets, hollows of the cheeks, and around the lips using a makeup sponge. For a rotting mummified texture, apply a thin layer of liquid latex onto the cheekbones, tap single-ply tissue over it, and coat with another layer of latex. Once dry, pick small holes in the latex and shade the exposed crevices with black and brown tones.
- • Deep, sunken facial features with hollowed eyes
- • Textured, peeling faux-skin patches across the cheeks and forehead
- • Applying makeup in solid block colors rather than blending transparent, patchy layers
Wrap the Head and Integrate the Look
Wind final aged strips around the scalp, jawline, and chin, leaving the eye area and mouth uncovered. Dust dry instant coffee grounds and dark makeup powder across the fabric folds using a sponge to create authentic tomb dust accumulation. Blend the makeup on your exposed eye hollows directly into the fabric borders for a seamless transition.
- • Head wrap framing the darkened, decayed facial features
- • Authentic dusty, aged grime embedded in the fabric creases
- • Covering the nose and mouth entirely, causing breathing difficulty and heat buildup
Credit: inspired by an original tutorial by Zack D. Films — watch the original on YouTube.
Don’t have everything?
- No Liquid latex? PVA craft glue layered with single-ply tissue paper
- No Unbleached muslin? Old white cotton bedsheets or pillowcases torn into strips
- No Cream makeup? Dark brown and grey powder eyeshadows blended with petroleum jelly