Hogwarts Robe Tutorial

Any student at Hogwarts must wear the requisite uniform. For my aspiring wizards and witch, I had to come up with something, quick. For my older kids, I modified the graduation robes we'd held onto from Mr. Pickup and I's college days. For my younger son, I realized my Banded Peasant Blouse Tutorial would be a great starting point.

Want to make one for your little wizard (size 5-6)?  I'll show you how I did it.
Step one.  Gather your materials.

Print your Peasant Blouse Template and Hogwarts Robe Yoke Template

1-1.5 yards black material.  I used some cheap polyester.  Not fun to use, but practical.  

Matching thread

20" black zipper

Lightweight interfacing, about 15"

Iron and ironing board

Sewing gear, including scissors, pins, sewing machine.  I always have my pinking shears on hand for seam finishing

Step two.  Cut your fabric.  I used my approximate size 5-6 measurements as a starting point.  I cut the sleeves 14" by 14", and the front and back body pieces 20" by 24".  You could easily make this a bit wider if you wanted to.  Since I was making the robe for a boy, I thought slimmer would be better.  It ended up being a teeny bit too tight.  If I ever made one again, I'd cut the robe 22" by 24".  You'll need to cut the arm sleeve allowance out of each piece.  Using the Peasant Blouse template, trim each side of the sleeve and body pieces.

Step three.  Prepare the front robe piece.  Cut the front robe piece in half down the middle.  Press each side in 1/4".

Take out your zipper, and pin it to one of the front robe pieces.  No worries about invisible zippers, although if you want to use one, this invisible zipper tutorial from Jess @ Craftiness is Not Optional is awesome.  Pin the fabric to allow about 1/8" from the zipper teeth.

As you get to the bottom of the zipper, angle the fabric so that it will meet the other side over the metal stop.

Sew the zipper on with a topstitch.

TIP!!!  Leaving the needle in the fabric, lift up your presser foot and slide the zipper head down so that you can continue sewing the zipper evenly.

Repeat for the other side.  When done, sew the bottom of the robe together.

I didn't match mine up exactly...but it works.  I was in a hurry.  :)

Step four.  Matching curves, sew your sleeves to the robe back and front.  Then sew the side seams together.

Step five.  Create the robe yoke.  Placing your template on the fold, cut out two yokes.  One will be your facing.

Interface one yoke, leaving about 1/2" from the outer edges free.  This will be the outer yoke.

Sew the yokes right sides together along the inner neckline.  

Be sure to clip those curves!  I love to use my pinking shears to do this.  Trims and clips in one easy step.

Turn the yoke right side out, and press.  Make sure to pull the facing so it's tucked under as you press.

Step six.  Attach the robe to the yoke.  To begin, sew a gathering stitch along the top of your robe.  You can see how to gather with Amanda's Sewing 101 contribution, or Dana's quick short cut.

Carefully pin the robe to the yoke, making sure the zippered edges match with the yoke fronts, and focusing the gathers at the tops of the sleeves and at the back.

Stitch the robe to the yoke.  For a finishing touch, take the facing and fold it so that it just covers your yoke/robe seam.  Pin in place.

Finally, carefully topstitch the yoke, catching the facing underneath.

Step seven.  Hem the sleeves and robe bottom.  I cut the sleeves and robe so the selvage edge was the edge of each.  It was a simple matter to press the bottoms up to the length I wanted and stitch in place.

I'll leave you with some fun photos I took of my boy in his Hogwarts Robe:

I'm ready to get Lord Voldemort!

You can see how I made the Gryffindor Printed Patch HERE.

Sharing with Freckled Laundry, Kojo Designs, Creation Corner, and Tatertots and Jello.