I’ve done it again. I’ve somehow managed to leave costume-making to the last minute, despite best intentions. I’ve finished my girls Hogwarts school uniforms- a little Ginny and Hermione. But my son’s Quidditch costume, which I have had to completely design is still in the early phases. If I am up until 2:00 am tonight sewing, I am going to be really put out.
Here’s a little about the girl’s Hogwarts uniforms. I wanted to make them nice enough to be worn as regular clothing. I started with the skirts and went looking for a pattern. I loved the pleated skirt pattern from Oliver + S, but could not bring myself to spend $15.95 for a pattern. In the end, I found a very nice pattern- McCall’s M5459 on sale for .99 and the skirts turned out just how I hoped. They have an elastic in the back, which I prefer over zippers, buttons or hooks. And I was able to easily alter the pattern to fit my very skinny little girls.
The cloaks were a different matter, they will never be worn to school (unless that owl arrives) but, they will be worn for dress ups often in the coming year, so I made them out of an inexpensive polyester gabardine which I found for 50% off. I intended to use the cloak pattern I used last year to make cloaks, but after looking at it carefully, concluded it would not look like a Hogwarts cloak. So I made up the pattern. This wasn’t as easy as I thought it might be, and I ended up using my seam ripper more than a few times. But, they are finished and I am happy with the results. I used Transfer Magic- Inkjet Transfer to Dark transfer paper to make the crest chest patch. I will also be using the the transfer paper to apply the number and crest on my son’s Quidditch uniform. It worked really well, I just had to be really careful about transferring to the polyester fabric, which is not recommended. Test it on small scrap of fabric first. I recommend keeping the iron moving slightly or you may have an iron mark on your fabric.
We already had white oxford button down shirts, black tights, and shoes. I purchased the sweaters, which are cute enough to wear all winter and plain red children’s neckties to complete the look. I considered painting gold stripes with fabric paint, but decided not to. I would rather have the ties usable for the future, than ruin them for one night’s use.
Next came the wands, I came across the most amazing tutorial on how to make wands out of paper from dadcando.com (a very cool site, by the way.) We made three practice wands, but had not painted them yet when a surprise showed up on the doorstep. My husband had purchased Alivan’s Wands, which he has been eyeing for years. Would you believe they had wands on sale for $7.99? The kids were surprised and absolutely thrilled. They are real wood and wonderful… and about the same price as a cheap plastic wand.
Wish me luck with the Quidditch costume. With any luck, I will end up with something remotely resembling these:
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wow…..impressive, I don’t even want to share what my kids costumes look like! I can’t wait to see the quidditch costume!
Those costumes are freakin fantastic!!!! Your girls are just too cute!!!
Wow! Nice job-toally impressed.
Lovely, amazing costumes!!
Around here our Halloween costumes consist of digging through our dress up box and struggling to find 4 costumes to fit 4 kids. One of my sons has been a cowboy 5 years in a row now. Good thing he doesn’t seem to mind.
I love it Teresa. That’s how Halloween should be. I vacillate between wanting to do just what you do, and loving making their costumes. My kids do wear their costumes all year long for dress-ups. So I figure we get my effort worth out them. I always lament the large sums of money spent on a holiday that should just be simple… and my favorite costumes at the parade are often one’s made from found or recycled items.
Your girls are adorable!! Their costumes are so cool!! You did an awesome job! I can’t wait to see your Quidditch costumes too – I know you’ll do great on those too!!
And thank you for the link to Alivan’s Wands!! I want one!
Your girls costumes look fantastic!
My daughter is Hermione as well. We went to the D.I and found a white shirt, tie, and plaid skirt. Found the “cloak” at a yard sale. I love when a plan comes together! :)
I love the Hogwarts costumes, and would love to see how the Quidditch one turned out. I made a robe this year, too, and the very Quidditch costume you have in the picture. My daughter was Ginny in that picture.
Your little girls look so much like my 7 year old! She is determined to be Ginny Weasley, unfortunately, I can’t sew. Are you interested in selling one of them?