Kids love to dress up and play pretend games.  Having dress up clothes around your home is an easy way to encourage that type of play.  When the “Harry Potter” books started being read out-loud in our family, our kids were smitten with the characters and all of their adventures.  Who doesn’t love Harry, Ron, and Hermione?  A Harry Potter cape had to be sewn!

How to Make a Harry Potter Cape

Materials needed:  Black fabric, lining fabric, stiff interfacing, quilt batting, patch.  You’ll need about 1 yard of the black fabric and lining.  No-sew method alternative listed below.

The outside/cover fabric of the Harry Potter Cape is black jersey fabric.  The collar is lined with interfacing and batting to make it stand up straight.  The ties are made of the same cover fabric.  Sew ties just like a long tube and turn. 

Hem the bottom of both the lining and cover/outer fabric first, prior to sewing together.  By hemming these first, before pining right sides together and sewing, you’ll save yourself the hassle of hemming after the cape is sewn together.  The lining is very inexpensive polyester fabric with stars printed on it.

Don’t forget a pocket for your favorite wizard’s wand.  Only a muggle would neglect this detail.  The wand pocket is a narrow strip of fabric just wide enough for a wand from Olivander’s Wand Shop or made by your own wizards.  My crafty wizards (pictured at the end of this post) had a wand making business several years ago.

As no-sew alternative, this cape could easily be made of black felt, with a wand pocket glued into it.  Use fabric glue, which is available at sewing supply stores.

A patch is also necessary to make your Harry Potter cape official.  We can thank my former employer for this crest.  I removed it from a sweater back in the early 1990’s and kept it for later use.

My kids are too grown up to play with Harry Potter capes or dress up clothes (and they no longer fit!) and the books no longer get read out-loud, but they still get read and re-read.

I have kept all the dress-up clothes.  They are truly worth the effort.  Picture, circa 2002.

Thank you to my darling neighbor, who so graciously modeled the well-worn and loved cape.

Do your kids like to dress up?  Ever sew a cape before?  Want to try it?

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