May the fourth be with you

MAY 4 is Star Wars Day, a day to celebrate George Lucas’s iconic franchise and a perfect opportunity for Indented Head’s Yvonne Varley to suit up and channel the Force within.
With the help of her husband and two daughters, Ms Varley put on her custom-made, all recyclable pink Darth Vader suit to take out the bin, as part of the Bin Isolation series on Facebook (where people find creative ways to take out the bin).
“It’s really silly, I saw this pink curtain material at the Op Shop and bought it, it was a beautiful pink. One day in April last year, I was sitting and chatting with friends and they said they were going to PAX, a gaming convention in Melbourne,” Ms Varley said.
“It was in October, and a friend dared me to make a costume to wear. The only character I’m really familiar with is Darth Vader, and I had the pink fabric, so I thought ‘Let’s go pink’.
Ms Varley, who sews for a hobby and is a keen recycler, used items around the home to piece together the suit she wore to the convention in October.
“I bought most things to make the outfit from the Op Shop, including the boxes for my shoulder and chest. I used recycled wire, a Corn Flakes box, some old resin my husband had to make it stiffer, and the iconic rods on the box are a pair of barbecue tongs I cut up and stuck on.
“I also had flashing LED lights that I added to the belt boxes, they were upcycled from my daughter’s old school project.”
The reaction from the convention crowd was “amazing”, and after winning first prize at this year’s Bellarine Agricultural Show in the sewing upcycled/recycled category, Ms Varley donned the suit once more.
“I’d seen a few bin isolation videos and I’m a massive Star Wars fan. May 4 is Star Wars Day, so my husband Simon suggested the theme and pulling the bin along.
“It was a family affair; my two daughters Lizzy and Amelia were involved, they were filming and pulling the bin on a trolley and my husband had a helmet floating on fishing wire, it was a joint effort.
“People that have seen the video are laughing and sharing it; another pink Darth Vader turned up, he was wearing a pink helmet and pink shoes – it was fabulous and nice to see that people are getting into it.”