My former roommate Maggie and I decided that we had to have costumes from Harry Potter, since we are both such huge fans. :) We're both older and didn't want to be so blantantly obvious when we wore our costumes, so we decided on a uniform that university students would wear in the Harry Potter universe.

Status of Costume: finished

Started: Fall 2003
Finished: July 2006


Materials Used:
Robe - black twill and silver neck clasp from Joann's
Skirt - a lovely gray suiting from Walmart
Tie v.1.0 - leftover scraps of white and black crepe from previous projects, both from Joann's

Patterns Used:
Robe - Simplicity 5840, slightly modified
Skirt - Simplicity 9806, lengthened
Tie v.1.0 - cannibalized an old tie from Goodwill

Found Items:
White button-down shirt: Sears, $10
Gray sweater: JCPenny's, $15
Tie v.2.0: Walmart, $2.50
Black pointy toed shoes: Payless, $12.50
Assorted patches: patchpalace.com (now defunct)

What I like: I like the overall look of the costume. I think it's recognizable as one from the Harry Potter universe, though not strictly movie canon. I love the fabric we chose for the robes and skirts, and I also like all of the accessories we decided on. The scarf was a great find, and I enjoyed making my first tie, even though I did end up finding a good match at Walmart on clearance right after I finished making it!

What I would change: The robes were the first thing made and it shows. I was able to fix some of the flare on the sleeves that was really bugging me, but now I wished that we spent the extra money to line the robes. My skirt ended up a little longer than I wanted - I think it hits me in a weird spot and makes my calves look big. LOL. However, rehemming it is next to impossible, so there you go.

LJ "Diary": harry_potter

To see the reference images used to make this costume,
check out my Harry Potter Student Research.