Are you ready for our 2017 Family Halloween Theme? As big Harry Potter fans we couldn’t help ourselves. This DIY Harry Potter costume is the star of the show. Years ago I bleached his hair for his Draco Costume, but shortly after he got glasses. And if we are being honest he is more like Harry. My kids voted him to be the chosen one this Halloween. He was pretty excited to be Harry. He’s my only kid who has read all 7 books so far. This Harry Potter costume makes me smile. I love sharing the magic of Harry Potter with my kids.
DIY Harry Potter Costume Tutorial
- black material
- burgundy material
- thread
- sewing machine
- Gryffindor patch
- frog clasp
- iron
This costume is fairly simple. Measure your child from his shoulder to where you want your robe to stop.
1. Cut two front pieces and one back piece on a fold. I like to fold one of my son’s shirts in half and tuck in the sleeves to help me draw a pattern. I grab a piece of my kids’ chalk to help me.
2. With right sides together sew your two front pieces to your back piece. For the shoulders I sew towards the middle till about half way.
3. Measure the arm hole. Use that to determine the height of the rectangle you need for your sleeve. Measure your child’s arm, from where a sleeve would begin and then how long you want your sleeve to be. Remember to add an inch to account for seam allowances. I made sure to line up my sleeves with my material’s selvage so I could use that edge for my sleeves. I was trying to avoid hemming the ends of my sleeves. (Saved me so much time)
Stitch your sleeve together and attach to your robe. I like to have my robe inside out and then place my right sided sleeve in (be sure to match your seams). When your sleeve is turned out properly after you stitch, your sleeve and robe are matched properly. Repeat with the other side.
4. Next cut out your hood with black and burgundy material. You need two squares per color. You can use a hoodie for a template. And I always opt to make it larger.
Sew the right sides of your burgundy hood material together on two of the four sides. Then sew the black hood pieces together. Stitch the black hood and the burgundy hood together. Remember we want to match right sides together. Turn your hood out so the burgundy material is now inside as a lining. Press with your iron. Tuck the bottom of your material and lining into it self and press so you have a nice finished edge. Now when we attach it to our cloak our cloak it looks nicer.
5. Attach the hood to your robe matching the ends of your cloak and pin. If you have to have part of your hood folded in places to match up both ends that’s okay. Just make sure both ends of your hood match with your cloak ends. And we are sewing the folded edge to the top of our cloak.
6. Next cut two strips about 3 inches wide and the length of your robe in your burgundy material. Again I usually give myself an extra inch. Sew your long strips of material to your robe. Stitch right sides together. After you sew them fold over your strip and press.
Harry Potter Accessories
Hem the bottom and sleeves if you need to. And hand sew your frog closure on. (Also if you can enlighten me why it’s called a frog closure, I would really appreciate it)
Usually I go to Amazon to grab Gryffindor patches, but the shipping time didn’t work with my time frame. (Procrastinators unite!) I’m happy to report that I found these patches on etsy for an awesome deal. And they shipped them out quickly. And I love that they are iron on. Saved me so much time!
And remember you can use this pattern to make a robe for any Hogwarts house. I might just need to make myself adult Hufflepuff robe.
For Harry’s Tie I picked up a burgundy tie from the Goodwill and with Folk Art Metallic paint and tape I created the stripes I needed for this costume. I have a feeling he’s going to wear this tie to church after Halloween. And because we live in Arizona people might just think we love our local university. But you and I will know where his heart really lies.
If you son doesn’t wear glasses already you can snag some here. And don’t forget to draw on his lightening bolt scar. I like to use eye pencil. And style his hair so it sticks up in the back just a bit. I had my son grab a church shirt and pair of pants and he was ready to go.
Well actually a wand is essential to this costume. We had some leftover ones from his Harry Potter Party a couple of years ago. But you can also pick one up here. This costume didn’t take too much time. But if you are running short on time you can always just order a robe from Amazon. No one will ever know. And if your home is like mine you will get a lot of wear out of this costume.
Literary costumes are a perfect way to encourage reading. I love making books come alive as we create fun memories. I have plenty more Harry Potter Posts you probably want to check out. And feel free to share any guesses on who you think the rest of my family will be for our Harry Potter theme in the comments below.
DIY 3 Broomsticks Mug Tutorial & Recipe
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