Hermione Granger Costume for Kids

This Friday our local Bricks4Kidz is having a Harry Potter costume party - how fun!

I wanted Serenity's outfit to resemble Hermione Granger's in the first movie, The Sorcerer's Stone.

I think Emma Watson was so adorable in that movie!

Little did I know how much time and research it would take to do that - but I was determined to try.

It didn't help that I waited until the last minute to do it - only two weeks before the party.

So anything I found online, I had to consider the time it would take to ship.

Every thing about that first outfit is completely different than the other movies. 

Her tie had broad, not skinny, stripes.

The skirt and sweater were both grey, not black, and the grey skirt had many more pleats.

The stripes on her sweater were around the v-neck.

Her robe was black - including the lining.

She wore adorable black Mary Janes with long grey socks.

Even her wand was different!

Here's a picture of Hermione's first wand that someone tried to re-create:

Hermione's Hogwarts School Uniform:

Shoes:

The shoes were probably the easiest. 

I found them online at Amazon.

Next came the skirt, shirt, sweater and socks.

Finding them was harder.
The tie, robe and wand didn't take long to find though!

School Uniform:

Buckhead School Uniforms actually sells everything you'll need to dress your little one as Hermione Granger - or your older girl (boys too!).

Well - except for the tie, robe and wand of course!

But they charge more than I wanted to pay.

So I searched on Amazon and found a skirt and shirt (short sleeve because of the heat down here) from French Toast in her size, and quickly ordered to make sure they would arrive on time.

I looked for a sweater and couldn't find anything.

Then I came across a cute little grey sweater vest from The Children's Place (sold out now).

It's much lighter than I was looking for and I didn't really want a sweater vest, but I figured it would be okay considering how hot it still is here in South Louisiana.

I tried to add some stripes using burgundy and gold ribbon around the v-neck to match Hermione's sweater, but that area on the vest is very narrow and it just didn't work out.
I did find some red and yellow striped ribbon, but it doesn't quite match with the colors in Serenity's outfit.

While I was looking for a sweater, I came across a cardigan from Target that would've looked great - but they were sold out in Serenity's size.

Then I started looking around Target and found shoes, a skirt that looked a lot like Hermione's, a shirt and socks - everything but the tie.
Some of their school uniform pieces aren't available in stores and can only be bought online.

BTW, Target also has shoes like the ones Hermione wears in the other movies and a black v-neck sweater too. 

I couldn't believe I didn't think of Target first!

Also, another great place for Hermione's skirt (and one similar to the newer skirt), shirt, cardigan, sweater, cooler weather v-neck vest, shoes and socks is Next Direct. 

They have excellent prices!

I found them too late too.

Tie:

Now for a tie you can find both the skinny and broad striped ones at ties.com.
Did y'all know that American and European ties have stripes that run different directions?
The stripes on the ties you can purchase at ties.com for a Hermione Granger costume run the European direction.

Robe:

Amazon has them in sizes small-medium-large that will fit little and big kids. 

Make sure to get the nicer robe that says "embroidered Gryffindor emblem" in the description. 

The other robe has an emblem that is sewn on and, according to the reviews, isn't as nice.

ClockQuirks has a robe with a pocket for your child's wand!

They also have a Quidditch robe and other Harry Potter gear.

Robes and some of the other gear are made-to-order.

I found Serenity's robe from E'ra of Make Believe on Etsy.

It's beautifully made and will last a long time.
It looks wonderful on Serenity too - I love the v-shaped sleeves!
Customer service was excellent.

The robe arrived super fast too!

You can't see it in the picture above because of the way Serenity is standing, but there is a very nice Hogwarts patch on the robe.

I thought about sewing a robe that more closely resembled Hermione's in the first movie (all black), but I really hate store-bought patterns since I'm not all that good at following them!
You can find Gryffindor patches here on Ebay if you decide to sew your own robe.

Wand:
Alivan's has a big selection of handcrafted wands.
If you're looking for a wand like Hermione's vine wood wand, Alivan's has a vine carved wand that is very similar.
But if you'd like a wand that is more like her original wand (but darker), you can get the Holly/Ebony wand.
You could also try this inexpensive wand or this one, sand it, and then restain or paint it to resemble Hermione's first wand.

Below is one that I've sanded down and restained.
It's actually Serenity's wand that I got on sale for less than $10 a couple of years ago from Alivan's - it's shape and color was similar to The Apprentice Wand.
Serenity's played with it so much (even put little bite marks all over it), that I didn't think about doing this until a friend of hers decided to come with us to the party and needed a wand quick.
I wanted it to look like Hermione's first wand.
So after I sanded the flaws (bite marks and I think she used it as a drum stick!) out the best I could and removed all the old stain, I used Rust-Oleum in sunbleached and black cherry to restain it.
The handle of the wand appears almost white in the cell phone picture below, but it's actually more greyish-brown. 
Not quite what I was going for, since I wanted a white handle that looked well-worn - maybe a whitewash technique would've looked better.
I used Shellac in a spray can (from Lowe's - Amazon's prices are crazy!) to seal it.
You have to be very careful to spray a little at a time and not get too close or else it becomes tacky and gummy looking.
I think it would've just been easier to paint on the sealer.

I wasn't too sure this would work and hide most of the flaws (bite marks), but I was very surprised and pleased how nice it turned out!
I wish I'd gotten a before picture of the wand.
I'll try to get a nicer picture of the wand - the colors in this cell picture aren't quite accurate and it was taken before I sealed it with the Shellac.

UPDATE:
Here's a better picture of the wand:

Alivan's also has handmade Wizard brooms, Harry Potter candy, Faerie Scopes, and Wizard Wear - but not in little kid sizes.
And every month they give away a wand!

If you're looking for a wand that looks like Hermione's first wand, Magical Alley has one!

Orchard Works has a huge selection of wands and unfinished ones that you can stain/paint too.

You could make a wand using a sheet of paper!
Who knew?!

There are a ton of helpful videos if you want to try to make it yourself.

Serenity's wand came from Violet's Buds on Etsy.
Their wands are beautifully made by hand, the perfect size for little kids and very reasonably priced.
Shipping was super fast and customer service was excellent.
They also have nice handmade stands for wands.

Socks:

I bought her grey socks from Ebay (shipping was fast).

I just pulled off the black bow.

Amazon has grey socks too - but I only found them in a 6-pack and they aren't as long.

--------------------------

I guess with all my searching I was hoping to come across a blog or something that listed a bunch of helpful links so would be a snap to put together Hermione's outfit for younger kids.

But I never did - so I decided to post one.

I didn't get everything exactly like Hermione's first school uniform - the grey in Serenity's outfit is much lighter, but I don't think I did too bad with the time I had.
And she's dressed for our still-Summery weather.

Serenity likes it and that's all that really matters!

POST-IT NOTE:

I'm still working to get a tutorial for the little lego necklaces together.

Hope to have it ready soon!

Have fun!!

DIY: Powerpuff Halloween Costume

This year Serenity wanted to be the Powerpuff girl, Blossom.

I looked - but I couldn't find a costume that would fit her anywhere!

That meant I would have to make it.

That meant I would have to sew my very first A-line dress.

I didn't want it to be reversible - so THAT meant I needed to learn how to install a zipper (video) for the first time!

I ended up using a store-bought pattern (Simplicity 2194), but I seriously don't like store-bought patterns.

Next time I make an A-line dress I'll buy the Shannon Shift Dress PDF pattern!

It looks so cute, and I love PDF patterns.
The whole sewing process looks so easy because most of them have tons of helpful, detailed step-by-step pictures that guide you from start to finish.

Okay, here's how I put together Serenity's Blossom's costume.

After cutting out the dress, I cut off the bodice and a "block" out the middle.

I made a couple of templates for the middle piece.

I added 1/2" at the top and bottom of the templates for the seam allowances.

Then I cut out the black pieces for the waist.

I sewed the waist pieces to the bottom of the dress pieces first.

Serged the seams, ironed the seams UP, then top stitched.

Then I sewed the bodice pieces on.

Serged the seams, ironed the seams DOWN, then top stitched.

Next I installed the zipper (pic tutorial).

I had the thing on - sewed up nice and pretty, but when I tried to open the seam with my seam ripper, I made a BIG mistake!

I didn't realize I'd caught the zipper instead!

I had to drop everything and run to Hobby Lobby to get a new zipper before it closed.

NOTE TO ME: Always be careful ripping the zipper seam!!!

Because I'd messed up, installing the second zipper was a little difficult - and very time consuming.

But I got it!

For the final steps, I sewed the facing around the neckline of the dress and used bias tape facing for the sleeves.

I didn't like sewing that big piece of facing around the neckline - it really wasn't required for this simple costume, but I was following the pattern and didn't even think about it until it was done and I got to the following step - bias tape facing for the sleeves.

Oh well - next time I'll know!

I rolled hemmed the bottom with my serger.

Do you see how my zipper is a slightly off?

Not really sure what I did wrong, but I'm just glad I got the thing working!

Okay now for Blossom's ridiculously big red bow!

I zoomed in on this picture:

Then used my monitor as a lightbox to trace around the bow and created a template.

I used red broadcloth for the bow.

Actually, I used broadcloth for the entire costume, since it was 30% off at Hobby Lobby this week.

I sewed 1/4" around the edge, and clipped all the corners before turning it inside out.

Next I stuffed it with some polyfill.

Finally, I used to my glue gun to close the opening, and triple stitched in the middle to create the "knot" in the bow.

I'll probably hot glue the bow to Serenity's orange wig.

I found some white tights on Amazon.

And Serenity will be wearing her little black Mary Janes!

It was very late by time I finished, so I couldn't get any good outdoor pictures, but here's one I took with my cell.

I plan to get more pictures will my Canon tomorrow.

Serenity is so HAPPY that I made her Blossom costume!

She was doing some practice high kicks and punches - pretending to get the bad guys!

She said, "Mommy I'm going to SAVE THE WORLD!"

That's my baby!!

Happy Halloween!!

UPDATE: You can see pictures of Serenity in her entire costume HERE.

Have Fun!!

Pumpkin Oranges

I've been looking for some cute way to package treats for Serenity's dance class - around 20 little girls!

So it had to be something quick and easy.

Then I came across these adorable little oranges dressed up to look like pumpkins!

Momtastic made them for Halloween decor - but I thought they would be cute treats to hand out too!

It's a fun activity that you and your kids can to together.

POST-IT-NOTE:
I checked to make sure the marker didn't bleed through the rind onto the meat - so the oranges are safe to eat!


Materials:
Oranges
Yarn
Sharpie (or any black marker, I used a dry erase one)
glue gun & glue


Draw on the faces.
I tried a Sharpie at first, but it stopped working so I used a dry erase marker.
It worked but I had to go over the markings again once it dried.



Cut 4 strips of yarn about 3" long.



Put a strip of hot glue at the top of the orange.



Lay the yarn on top of the glue.



Put another strip of glue on top of the yarn.



Pinch the yarn together until the glue dries.



Our "Pumpkin Patch"!
One draw back, my dry erase marker dried up completely by time I finished all the oranges (I made 33).
Maybe next time I'll try a Sharpie Magnum Marker ($1.05 free shipping w/Prime)!



Have fun!

Fun Halloween Outfit

I love this outfit!

Serenity's pretty pettiskirt is only $25 (and FREE fast shipping) from Momi Boutique!

I made the Witch's Tee shirt a couple of years ago and it still fits perfectly!
If you'd like to make one too, it's super easy!
You can find my tutorial, HERE.

I also made Serenity's little pumpkin clippie.
It's another quick, easy and inexpensive project!
You can find my tutorial, HERE.


Have fun!