Hogwarts School Robes

As part of the craziness, I decided that if I was going to "go big" with this party, each child attending would also have their own Hogwarts School robe (hooded cape)

In my new happy place (Spotlight) I found stretchy crushed velvet (Panne velvet) in black, which was perfect for the robes... well so I thought being a complete newbie and never having sewed with stretchy material before.

The material I bought was 112cm wide, each cloak I cut to 90cm and depending on age, I'd cut the 112cm width down. I used the following sizes

4 year old - 80cm length
6 year old - 1m length
10 year old - 1.2m length

For each cloak I simply pleated and sewed along the top edge of the cloak so that the finished product fitted around the child shoulders comfortably and met in the front without choking them around the neck.  Even though Panne velvet doesn't frey, I still used a zigzag stitch to finish off all edges (if you sew close to the edge it almost looks like its been finished off using an over locking machine)

All hoods for the kids' cloaks I cut to a 15" square, simply drew and cut a curve around one corner, sewed the edges to form a hood, then as I did with the cloaks, I made pleats in the edge that will be attached to the cloak and then simply attached the two pieces together.

To keep to the colour theme from the book bags, I use yellow satin ribbon and sewed a piece to the inside of each end of the cape joining at the throat - be sure to use a zigzag stitch and go over it several times, the kids will be pulling on these ribbons a lot and you don't want them breaking off.

Luke - my very excited Hogwarts student :)

My 1 tip for success on this project - BUY BALL POINT NEEDLES

FOR YOUR MACHINE!

This needle has a medium tip that is a slightly more rounded than a universal needle and passes between the fabric threads instead of piercing hem. Ball-point needles ensure more even stitches on coarse and heavy knits and won’t damage spandex, interlocks and other knits that snag or run easily.