Sew your own Harry Potter Costume

Last year I made my daughter a Hermione costume for Halloween and while a few of the photos have made appearances in other posts here and there, I haven’t blogged the details. Since costume sewing season is coming up quick, I thought I’d share how I made this super cool Harry Potter Gryffindor costume!

Before you HP purists get on us, we realized much later, Hufflepuffs wear the gold hood lining, while Gryffindors wear the red. It’s just a costume, though, so we can all relax! Right?? Ha!

PIN ME!

This post may contain affiliate links, which means that while I am not paid to promote certain items, I will earn a small commission should you purchase items through these links. For more info, see my disclosure policy.

The Pattern

I used with Simplicity 8723, an obvious place to start. I love making DIY costumes and if there’s a pattern available that’s anything close to what I’m going for, I use it. This pattern came out last Fall, so perfect timing.

I made Layla the adult small version and had to alter it down to fit her, especially the length of the sleeves. It’s not a hard pattern to adjust, though, the width is almost one-size-fits-most, and it’s easy to alter the length of the sleeves and hem. We love the pointy hood, it’s so fun!

The Fabric

Costume satin is very inexpensive, so costume makers, rejoice! I’m pretty sure I got my black and gold at Hobby Lobby, but here is the black on Amazon and here is the gold. This fabric can snag if you use a dull needle, so I recommend microtex needles for these silky fabrics. They also fray, so finish those edges, either with a serger (I have this one and love it), a zig zag stitch or at the very least, pinking shears. Otherwise, these fabrics are not hard to sew, don’t be scared of them!

The accessories

The pattern does include the tie, but I didn’t need to use it since Target had the house ties in their Halloween section. Good news, they sell them year round online here! You can also buy them on Amazon here: Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff,Ravenclaw. We used a pair of black pants and a white collared school uniform shirt we got on clearance at Target to complete the outfit.

As for the wand, Layla DIY-ed her own! She used a piece of a wooden dowel we already had and used her hot glue gun to add texture in a spiral pattern around the handle section. Then she painted the whole thing brown. Clever.

More Ideas

We did not purchase an iron-on patch, but that would have been super fun! You can find them very inexpensively on Amazon:

It would also be pretty easy to turn this pattern into the Harry Potter Quidditch player costume. The shape of the Quidditch cloak is the same, so you’d only need to change up the fabrics. I think I would use fleece to keep costs down, and felt for the stripes and number. A broom , some goggles, and a snitch would really take this costume over the top! This costume would be warm too, which is always a consideration in many states.

And since Luna Lovegood is my personal favorite, just for fun, here are Luna’s glasses.

If you want more Harry Potter inspo, I have a big roundup of the best Harry Potter tutorials and fabrics right here!

Cheers :)