SCHOOL ROBE TUTORIAL

[A] INTRODUCTION

            Some time in late 2004, I decided to try my skill at making a HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN Style School Robe. After the release of the 3rd Harry Potter Movie and the change seen in the basic School Uniform of the students, the assembling and construction of the uniform became a *Hot* Topic at Madame Malkins Mailing List (Harry Potter Costuming Discussion Group) so extensive information had been made readily available online. This encourages me to try my luck at making and assembling my own set.
 

[B] REFERENCES
See the Black Lining & Color Facing	Various Robe Length	Robe Length, Sleeves Size & Black Lining
Sleeves Length & Color Lining	Back of Hood & Hood Lining	Length of Hood (~Waist Length)
	Costume Study	Width of Hood Opening

[C] THE PATTERN

        I used the commercial pattern McCall's 3663-View A Cape as the basic template for my Prisoner Of Azkaban Style School Robes and 1942 Moaning Myrtle School Robes with lots of simple modifications to fit the various need/design of the robes. This was on the recommendation of a member of the Madame Malkins Mailing List and coincidentally as I already have the pattern at hand (for LOTR-Elvish looking Gowns patterns)

Costume Pieces	Close-Up Of Robe Pattern Pieces

* * OTHER PATTERNS RECOMMENDED  * *
 
 

[D] MATERIALS
(For 5' 1" +/- Tall Person)

~4.0m BLACK Cotton-Linen OR Polyester-Viscose Blend
~3.5m Peachskin (Maroon OR Green OR Royal Blue OR Mustard)
~3.0m BLACK Pongee OR Tetra-Cotton/Poplin
BLACK Tetra-Cotton/Poplin or any other Semi-Thick Cloth (for Pockets & Wand Holder)

[For yourself or others of taller or lower height, just do a MOCK-UP FIRST or estimate using the recommended amount on the pattern envelop]

McCall's M3663 - View A Cape

Size (10mm) Black Buttons
Plain Black Cheongsam Frog Closure/Button
Size Hook & Eye (Either Gold or Silver or Black at SGD0.50[People's Park] to SGD4 [Spotlight])

Sewing Machine & Serger/Overlockers WITH Black & Maroon/Green/Blue/Mustard Threads
 

[E] MAKING IT

1.1 CHOOSING SIZE & CUTTING PATTERN

[A] Cut the pattern pieces according to the size based on the Chest Measurement as recommended on the envelope. You will need Pieces No. 1 (BACK A CAPE), 2 (FRONT A CAPE), 3 (SLEEVES A CAPE) and 4 (HOOD A CAPE).

Fig 1.1: Envelop Back

[B] Take the measurement of
      - Shoulder/Top of Arm to Mid-Shin/Above Ankle (RL1 : ROBE LENGTH)
      - Armpit to Mid-Shin/Above Ankle (RL2 : ROBE LENGTH)
      - Hand Length (SL : SLEEVES LENGTH)
      - Bottom of Neck to Back of Waist (H1 : HOOD LENGTH)

Fig 1.2: Measurements To Take

2.0 MODIFYING THE PATTERN PIECES

2.1 PIECE 2- FRONT A (CAPE)

1. Place the Straight Side (aka Robe Opening) on the Hem/Bias of the 45" Cloth that had been folded into 2
(If making a New Pattern using Tracing Paper, just place this Straight Side on the Length of the Paper)

2. Trace the Collar, Shoulder and Arm Hole Lines from the original pattern onto your Cloth or Tracing Paper. Remove the Original Pattern.

3. Starting from Below the Arm Hole, draw a Straight Line till the edge of the 45" cloth, to the length you get for RL2

4. Starting from Below the Collar, mark the length gotten from RL1

Fig 2.1a: Final Pattern

5. Taking the Bottom Hem of the original pattern, trace the curve onto the new pattern/cloth, connecting the end of RL1 with that of RL2.

6. Cut out the new drafted pattern for the Front Panels of the School Robe.

2.2 PIECE 1 - BACK A (CAPE)

1. Fold along the STRAIGHT Side of Piece 1 (BACK A Cape) with the Decorative Guide Line as a guide in order to eliminate the ~5/8" seams allowance. The back piece of the School Robe is going to be cut as 1 piece instead of 2 pieces like originally intended for the pattern.

Fig 2.2a: Where to fold

Fig 2.2b: Result of Folding

2. Lay the Straight (Center Back) of the pattern on the FOLD of the 45" Cloth folded into 2.

3. Trace the Collar, Shoulder and Arm Hole Lines from the original pattern onto your Cloth or Tracing Paper. Remove the Original Pattern.

4. Starting from Below the Arm Hole, draw a Straight Line till the edge of the 45" cloth folded into 2, to the length you get for RL2

5. Starting from Below the Collar, mark the length gotten from RL1

6. Taking the Bottom Hem of the Original Pattern, trace the curve onto the new pattern/cloth, connecting the end of RL1 with that of RL2.

6. Cut out the new drafted pattern for the BACK Panels of the School Robe.

TIP

• If you want to cut down on Cutting Time, you can place the Lining Cloth under the Main
  Cloth after drawing out the shape of the New Pattern. Just remember to pin both pieces
  together around the rim and cut out all 2/4 pieces at one go.

• It is a good idea too to sent the cut pieces to the Tailor shop to get the sides finished off
  using the Serger/Overlocking Stitches Machine.

2.3 PIECE 3 - SLEEVES A (CAPE)

1. Fold the pattern piece of the SLEEVES in the correct size into 2 (make sure the shape is almost symmetrical).

2. Traced the part that will get stitched to the Arm Hole onto a Tracing/Majong/Pattern Paper that has also been folded into 2, while placing the Folded side of the Original pattern along the Folded side of the Paper.

3. Using the estimation that the end of the sleeves is ~1.5-1.75 times the length of the Arm hole, and the length of the sleeves you want, draw the shape of the sleeves starting from the Underarm.
 

4. Using a French Curve, try to curve up the bottom of the sleeves to a more rounded shape.

5. Cut pattern, open and trace new pattern onto cloths (can also do it on a Fold)

6. Finish off all Raw Edges.

2.4 PIECE 4 - HOOD A (CAPE)

1. Using Pattern Piece No. 4 - Hood, draft a new pattern for the School Robe Hood.
Place the pattern on a piece of Brown or Tracing Paper and trace out the basic shape of the hood.

2. Firstly, you'll need to make the Hood Opening (where your face peep out) less wide.
For mine, after doing my Version 1.1, I trimmed the Opening to 16.5" Long (Original ")

3. Next, with the measurement H1 : HOOD LENGTH (Bottom of Neck to Back of Waist OR End of Tail bone), draw a Straight Line from top of hood till the H1 Length.

4. From the end of the part that will get sew to the Robe Collar, draw a Straight Line to meet the line drawn for the Hood Length.

5. Finish up all drawing and cut out the pattern obtained.

You will also need to use this pattern to draft the COLOR FACING-HOOD LINING PATTERN

2.5 COLOR FACING

[1] Using the PIECE 2 (FRONT A - CAPE) and *NEW* version of PIECE 4 (HOOD A - CAPE) from Part 2.4, make a mock-up (1 side ONLY!) and sew the 2 pieces together.

[2] Laying the piece flat and try to trace the shape obtained (Hood Connected to the FRONT Piece) onto a Pattern/Tracing Paper

[3] Make the COLOR FACING Part (part sew onto the FRONT Piece of the Robe/Body) Width to about 6-7" only.

[4] The Pattern of the COLOR FACING-HOOD LINING is now ready to be used.
 

2.6 POCKETS

[1] For the WAND POCKET, measure the length of your wand OR the length between your Underbust and Mid-Thigh.
This pocket will be sew on the LEFT side of the Lining, on the BLACK part just beside the Color Facing Lining

[2] For the HIDDEN SIDE POCKET, draft the pocket according to the measurements and shape below:

[3] If you want even more pocket, you can create them according to your desired sizes and shape and sew onto the RIGHT side of the Lining.

3.0 PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

[1] Sew all the BLACK Right Side/Outside Pieces with the Hidden pockets together

[2] Sew the Color Facing on the BLACK Lining.

[3] Sew all the Wrong/Lining Pieces together. Turn it to the wrong side.

[4] Sew on the Wand & other pockets to the RIGHT side of the Lining at the position comfortable to you.

[5] Putting the RIGHT side of the BLACK Right Side against the RIGHT side of the Lining Pieces, sew the 2 pieces together, leaving about 5" gap at the bottom of the Robe (to allow you to turn the cloth)

[6] Turn to the RIGHT side and iron all sides down. Close off the Open Hem at the Bottom of the Robe.
For my Robes, I also sew down ALL edges to make it permanently flat.

[6] Sew on the House Patch, Hook-And-Eye Closure and Cheongsam Frog Closure/Button at their correct position.
At this point, it's a good idea to put the Robe on yourself while wearing the V-Collar Sweater to estimate the positions of these parts

[7] Sew on the 10mm Black Buttons to the end of the Cheongsam Frog Closure/Button, covering its end.

[8] Iron the School Robe and it's now ready to be worn.
 

FINAL PRODUCT

[F] OTHER TUTORIALS & PATTERN

[1] PROPOGANDA_LIVE
WEBSITE : http://community.livejournal.com/propaganda_13/2028.html
COMMENT : A tutorial that showed how the author modify Simplicity 5840 for a PoA/GoF/OotP Style School Robe.

[2] GUIDE TO MODIFYING SIMPLICITY 5840 INTO A PS/SS/COS ROBE BY ELLEN
WEBSITE : http://www.costumebeginner.com/malkins/student/simp.htm
COMMENT : This Tutorial is for Simplicity 5840 and this explanation assumes some knowledge of sewing and patterns-may be confusing for beginners

[3] GUIDE TO MODIFY SIMPLICITY 5840 INTO A SS/COS ROBE
WEBSITE : http://www.costumersguide.com/harrypotter/robe.txt
COMMENT : The Write-Up original version of the above link.

[4] HOGWARTS CLOAK
WEBSITE : http://www.jedigurl.com/crafts/cloak
COMMENT : How to modify Simplicity 5840 for the PoA/GoF/OotP Style School Robe.

[5] SERVANTS OF THE LIGHT - MAKING ROBES AND CLOAKS TUTORIALS
WEBSITE : http://www.servantsofthelight.org/knowledge/makingrobes.html
COMMENT : A pattern to make a very simple Robe

[6] DEGRAEVE.COM-HOW TO MAKE A JEDI ROBE
WEBSITE: http://www.degraeve.com/jedirobe/
COMMENT: A simple pattern

[7] INSTRUCTABLES - SEWING A JEDI OR HARRY POTTER ROBE OR CLOAK
WEBSITE : http://www.instructables.com/id/Sewing_a_JEDI_or_Harry_Potter_Robe_or_Cloak/
COMMENT :

[6] REBEL'S HAVEN
WEBSITE : http://www.rebelshaven.com/hogwarts.html
COMMENT : A Write-Up explaining how the Robe looks like.....
 

[7] HOW-TO GRYFFINDOR ROBE
WEBSITE : http://diyfashion.about.com/od/costumes/ss/gryffindor_robe.htm
COMMENT : A Quick way to do the robe for kids mostly.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

- Thank you to Starfire Phoenix  for her assistance and guidance in redrafting of the PoA Style School Robe Lining.