One last “costume” post. It’s after Halloween but I think the Sorting Hat is incredibly popular with Harry Potter fans and can be used all year round for Harry Potter themed parties or even decorating a Harry Potter themed bedroom.

All three North Dakota grandkids are huge Harry Potter fans. They all went to Universal Studios last Spring just to see “The Wizarding World of Harry Potter”. Piper has read several of the books but it was Adley that requested the Sorting Hat. When she told me what she wanted me to make I was a little worried about getting it just right. I thought “I’ll just buy her one and send it to her.” But when I checked them out I knew I could do better.

Of course, Piper sent me photos so I would know EXACTLY what I needed to make.

I checked out some photos from the movies plus I did lots of research on Pinterest and blogs. Some of the handmade versions were made from old leather coats and there was one that was paper mache. None of them were exactly what I envisioned.

After all the research, I decided to use felt for this sorting hat. I keep lots of wool blend felt at my house but didn’t have enough of the brown. So I made a trip to Joanne’s. They only carry the polyester stuff but I didn’t have time to order online from Etsy so I bought a couple yards of that. My daughter was in ND helping out with the girls at the time and I asked her to measure Adley’s head. She only found a metal tape measure and used that to come up with 22″. Hmmmm. That’s about the size of my head! Anyhow. I decided to go with an adult version of a witches hat. I used the free pattern from Sew4Home.com. (I love that blog!) I extended the pointy part four more inches so I would be able to scrunch the felt up to make the face.

I used a stiff interfacing sandwiched between brown felt in the brim. I added a couple patches on the brim since there were patches on the hat in the movie. It’s supposed to be centuries old. But I’m thinking. If I was a witch or wizard, would I not just magically fix those worn spots? Hmmmmm. But I’m just a muggle so I guess I don’t understand!

I followed the tutorial to add wire to the rim of the brim (use a really wide zig zag!) so it could be shaped and then covered that with bias tape.

Then brown cotton straps to the side. These are quite noticeable in the movie pics but they are never tied. Not sure what they are for, but I added them! I just turned some quilting fabric under 1/4″ each side and then stitched them in. In this snap, the straps are already added and I’m attempting to clip in the hat pointy part.

And then I attempted the features. I really do not have much guidance here for you. I smushed up the felt until it looked like eye spaces and put some very strong stitches right in the middle. I wonderclipped the eyebrows then handstitched those on.

Then I did some more scrunching until the hat kind of looked like it had a mouth. Again. strong stitches right in the middle. I tried stitching around like I did the eyebrows but it didn’t look right so I tore them out. It was really all trial and error.

Last step was the strap around the hat. This is a pretty bad background. But I wanted to show what it looked like from the back.

I texted this photo to Piper who shared it with her sister. They sent me a video back of Adley squealing. And if I could figure out how to do it, that video would be right here! But you have to work some kind of magic in WordPress to make that actually happen. Just believe me, there was lots of giggles and happiness.

And the sorting hat was sent away along with the axolotl hood! Fun dress up clothes for the girls.

And I’m back to making quilts, totes, and dolls!