Crack open the WAY BACK MACHINE for today’s 31 Days of Halloween!

Today we have a fast, easy costuming option for the Harry Potter fans out there.

Originally created in 2006 for a Craftster Swap, I’m breaking this tutorial out today for anyone that might not have a costume in mind, or, like me, might need something a wee bit cooler to wear come Halloween!

The best part about this project is that you can sew it by hand if you don’t have a machine or use a serger to finish it even faster!

You’ll need:

• 1 red t-shirt
• 1 black t-shirt in the same size and style as the red t-shirt
• Rotary cutter, 24″ rotary ruler & cutting mat
• OR a straight edge, pencil and sharp scissors
• Seam ripper
• Pins
• Sewing machine, serger or needle and thread
• Freezer Paper, cut into 2 8 ½” x 11” sheets (print Hogwarts Crest Stencil & Potter/Star Stencil on these sheets)
• fabric paint in red, green, blue, yellow, white and gold
• foam paintbrushes

Instructions

• Find the center of each shirt by folding in half towards the front and matching the sleeves.
• Mark the top and the bottom with a pin.
• If using a rotary cutter, this is your cutting line.
• If using a straight edge, draw a pencil line from top to bottom.
• Cut as straight as possible.

Sleeve Reconstruction

• Select the red shirt right (right side when the shirt is worn) and black shirt left and carefully remove the sleeves from each side of the shirt using a seam ripper. Be very careful to not stretch the fabric.

• Swap the sleeves so that red sleeve is with black shirt piece and the black sleeve is with red.
• Turn the shirt half you are working on inside out and place the sleeve, right side out inside the
• sleeve hole (right sides will be together), matching the top and bottom creases. Pin the sleeve in place, being careful not to stretch the fabric.
• Using a serger or a stretch stitch on your sewing machine, stitch in a 1/4″ to 1/2″ seam all the way around.
• If stitching by hand, take small stitches.
• Repeat for second sleeve.

Shirt Body Reconstruction

• Place one shirt half inside the other, right sides together so that the wrong sides of the seam lines will be on the outside. You will have two seams, a front seam and a back seam.
• Carefully pin every few inches starting at the t-shirt ribbing and work your way down, trying not to stretch the fabric.
• If the bottoms hems do not meet, pin the bottom edges together and ease along the middle of the shirt (t-shirts can be really wonky, but you can make it work!).
• Carefully stitch along this line as for the sleeves.
• Snip the corners of the inside seams on the diagonal.
• Turn the shirt right side out.

Stenciling the front (Hogwarts Crest)

• Cut out the four sections of the Hogwarts Crest stencil.
• Place cardboard or newspaper inside the t-shirt to protect from bleed through.
• Using a warm iron, carefully place the stencil on the upper left side of the shirt (the black
• side).
• Stencil the upper left section red, the upper right section green, the lower left section yellow and the lower right section blue*.
• Gently peel stencil away and allow to dry.
• Optional: Paint a cursive “H” over the four sections in gold paint.

Stenciling the back (Potter & Star)

• Cut out the Potter and Star stencil.
• Optional: Create a stencil with your own name using a Sans Serif font OR use purchased iron on letters.
• Place cardboard or newspaper inside the t-shirt to protect from bleed through.
• Using a warm iron, carefully place the stencil in the middle of the back of the shirt, matching center lines.
• Stencil the name and star with red paint.
• Gently peel away and allow to dry.

*I recommend testing your paint on dark fabric before you start. Some paints will need multiple layers. If the paint doesn’t cover, you can start with a white base coat.

Need more information on stenciling? Check out my post from last week!