Happy Halloween! {Harry Potter Costumes}

Tonight C is Harry Potter (glasses he got from THIS awesome party).

D is Ron Weasley:

And Little Miss B is Hermione Granger:

With this Harry Potter lego sitting on the top of my sewing machine…

… I used Simplicity pattern 5512 as a guide for these 3 costumes.  I greatly altered the pattern pieces, but it was a great starting point for me. 

After my kids figured out what they wanted to be, I looked at Harry Potter robes and ties online, only to find that they are pretty pricey.  Buying one wouldn’t be bad, but times it by 3 and it’s too much for me!  I made these costumes for about $15.00 each.  Not as cheap as I had hoped, but the quality is better than what I would pay for online.  If I bought the robe and a tie, I was looking at at least $35.00 per costume for any that were decently reviewed. 

I added a lining to the robes, and a pocket for their wands (ordered off Amazon—they make a cool noise and everything). Thanks to Sabra for helping me figure out how to line them!

The 3 Gryffindor crests I ordered on ebay for $9.00 total, shipped.  They aren’t official, I’m sure, but they look great and my kids thought they were the coolest.

I really cheated on the ties and didn’t do them any sort of official way.  I learned before when I made ties that they take a long time to sew the correct way. 

So here’s a little short version of how I sewed them.  I traced a tie that fit the kids so there were two pieces.  Not long, just a few inches longer than the top of the tie I traced.  I cut strips for the stripes and made them kind of like single folded bias tape.  Then I sewed the stripes on, placed right sides together and left a space to turn on the side near the top narrow area.  I sewed around the edges minus the hole to turn, clipped the corners, turned, topstitched the hole, and ironed. 

I made a loop with the top part of the tie and topstitched down, then folded in half and sewed a couple stitches in the back to make it bunch. 

I made the neck band the same way as I do my bow tie neck bands and looped it through the ties.  Easy and SO cheap with the cheap-o Walmart fabric! 

I sewed on an elastic hair-band to secure the robe closed, with two buttons on either side. 

And for the vests, I just bought a cheap sweatshirt or t-shirt from the thrift store ($1.00 each), cut the necks to a V, and sewed on gray double folded bias tape.  Just a note:  I liked how the sweatshirt looked much better than the t-shirts!

(Tomorrow I’ll show you what the hubs and I were.  The kids were disappointed we didn’t dress up to go along with them, but we did dress as a “couple”.)