HARRY POTTER
CLOAK TUTORIAL

 

        The School Cloak is extensively seen worn in the first 2 HARRY POTTER Movies, whether over the student's clothing while at Diagon Alley or after school hours, or over their School Robe/Uniform during Winter. But by the time the 3rd movie, HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN was released, it seems to had been eliminated from the basic school uniform seen worn by the student, shun for a few scenes in GOBLET OF FIRE, worn over their basic School Uniform. Anyway, this doesn't stop many fans from wanting to make one for themselves to complete their HARRY POTTER Costumes further.

        So here is a very rough and probably not accurate instruction on how to make a Harry Potter Cloak as seen worn in Sorceress Stone, Chamber of Secrets and Goblet of Fire.

 

[A] REFERENCES
 
From HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER STONE
 
 
From "Chamber Of Secret" Behind-The-Scene

From Goblet Of Fire

 


[B] MATERIALS

60" Black Cloth (Thick Wool Suiting, Cotton, Polyester-Viscose Suiting etc)
*Amount to be bought should be ~4 times the Length from Below Your Neck to Your Ankle
  E.g. : Length = 1.3m
             Amount Of Cloth To Get = ~5.5m (To accommodate Seams, Inner Yoke etc)

1.5" Black Satin/Cotton Bias Tape OR Satin Blanket Edge Liner
Size  Hook & Eye (Either Gold or Silver or Black at SGD0.50[People's Park] to SGD [Spotlight])

Large Pattern Paper (Mahjong Paper, Brown Paper, Tracing Paper etc)
Long Rulers
Measuring Tape
Mathematical Compass
Color Pencil, Tailor's Chalk
Scissors
Masking Tape (for sticking together small pattern paper to make bigger ones)
Black Thread
Sewing Machine & Serger/Overlockers

 


[C] MAKING IT

PART 1 : DRAFTING CLOAK PATTERN

Based on many of the reference photos seen from all 3 Harry Potter Movies (The Cloak wasn't seen used in HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN), we are going to draft a FULL Circle Cloak. Depending on your preferences or size or width of Shoulder, you can alter it to be 3/4 Circle or a more Shaped Pattern with Shoulder Darts etc. A little advice, before you exactly cut out the Actual Cloth for the Cloak, TRY to do a MOCK-UP first to gauge if the Design or Length is correct for yourself.
 

1. Measure from about below your Neck to about your Ankle (H : CLOAK LENGTH)

2. Measure the Circumference of your Neck, probably at the thickest part (Recommended Bottom of Neck since that is where the Neck Opening is going to rest upon). Using the Mathematic Formula, Circumference = π (22/7) x 2 R (radius) OR π x Diameter, work backwards to figure out the value of R.
E.g. :
Circumference =
π  x 2 R
15" = 22/7 x 2R
==> 2R= 15" x 7/22
==> 2R = 4.772727"
==> R = 2.386364"
==> R = ~2.5" (CC1 = Cloak Collar)

3. Using these 2 Measurement, draft the pattern for the Cloak on the Pattern Paper like following:


Fig 1 : Half of Cloak Pattern

Fig 2 : Full Cloak Pattern

Photo 1 : Drafting the pattern

Photo 2 : Actual Pattern
   

 

PART 2 : DRAWING PATTERN ON CLOTH & CONSTRUCTION

1. Fold Cloth into 2 with RIGHT Sides Together.

2. Place the Half-Circle Pattern on the Cloth, with the Length/Longest Straight Line against the Hem of the Cloth. Pin Pattern down onto Cloth.

3. Trace the pattern onto the Cloth.


Fig 3 : Pattern on Cloth
 
   

4. Cut out the Cloth along the the Traced Lines.

5. Have all Raw Edges Finished Off with the Serger/Overlocker.

6. Taking ONE Side of the 1 of the Cut Half-Circle, sew it to the other side of the other piece of Cut Half-Circle (RIGHT Side Together) to form a Full Circle.


Fig 4 : 2 Pieces Sew Together
   
     
     

7. Cover all the Edges with the 1.5" Bias Tape OR Satin Blanket Edge Liner.

8. Fold all Edges inwards to form a ~2.5" Hem. According to THIS PHOTO, fold the Bottom Edge first and sew it down before sewing the Sides Seams.

9. Sew on the Hook-&-Eye Closure at the Neck Opening and followed by the House Patch. 

FINAL PRODUCT:
   
   
   

DONE!
 

MODIFICATION:
- You can also add a Yoke on the WRONG< Side of the Top of the Cloak around the neck area before Hemming, to give a more Neat Look there. Width best ~1/2 your Shoulder Width. A dart can also be done on this Yoke to make it slightly smaller than the Cloak or to your Shoulder's Shape so will sit well on the Shoulder.

- If you like to change House, you can seww the House Patch onto a 4" Velcro Set instead. Sew the "Soft" Part to the Cloak and the "Rough/Prickly" side to the Patch (WHY? So when you wash it, nothing will get hocked to the Velcro half that is on the Cloak )

- This method can also be used for the >BEAUXBATON Arrival Outfit CAPELET. Just Shorten the length of the Cloak, draft the Collars and cut out another piece of Capelet out of the Dark Blue Color.

 


[D] OTHER TUTORIALS

[i] ANTIMONY & LACE CIRCLE CLOAK
WEBSITE :
http://www.gothfashion.info/circlecloak.php
NOTE :
Show TWO different ways to make a Long Circle Cloak with Hood.

[ii] VINTAGE SEWING.INFO - CHAPTER 6 - CAPES, TIES, NECKWEAR AND SCARCES
WEBSITE :
http://vintagesewing.info/1940s/42-mpd/mpd-06.html
NOTE :
Show how to draft a SHAPED Cape which can also be extended for a Cloak.

[iv] SERVANTS OF THE LIGHT - MAKING ROBES AND CLOAKS TUTORIALS
WEBSITE :
http://www.servantsofthelight.org/knowledge/makingrobes.html

NOTE : Scroll down the page to see the part about making Circle Cloak

[v] CLOAK MAKING GUIDE - THE SEMI-CIRCULAR PATTERN
WEBSITE :
 http://home.clara.net/arianrhod/Aldebaran/DoItYourself/Cloak02.html
 NOTE :

[vi] LES COSTUMES - LES MANTEAUX CIRCULAIRES
WEBSITE :
http://armag.free.fr/Costumes/mantcirc.htm
NOTE :

[vii] ALLEYCATSCRATCH CIRCLE CLOAK
WEBSITE :
http://www.alleycatscratch.com/lotr/makingem/Patterns/Cloaks.htm#Circle
NOTE :


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Last Updated On 30th June 2007
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