Just when I thought I'd come near exhausting the ideas we could do with Harry Potter, the stars aligned and the inspiration came for this fun Hermione Skirt.
And since it was this cute girl's 9th birthday, it actually got made in time for a birthday gift. (You might remember her epic Harry Potter themed 8th Birthday here. We don't do parties every year, so this year she just had two friends over for cupcakes after school.)
I hadn't been planning this as part of her gift, but when I saw this Peter Pan Skirt at Prudent Baby, it got me thinking I needed to make Katie a Hermione Skirt. Scouring the web for a Hermione silhouette that was doable to cut out of freezer paper and also really recognizable as her turned up this silhouette of Hermione by fit51391 on Deviant Art which she had based off of this drawing of Hermione by Burdge on Deviant Art. So in the end, I came up with this...
Hermione walking along the hem. I lengthened Hermione's skirt just a bit and added a wand in her hand, below the stack of books. Especially since it's a silhouette, I felt like she needed a wand to be recognizeable. I'd originally envisioned her wand trailing swirls of magic dust around behind her as she walked...but the skirt was turning out so cute, I chickened out. The swirls would have been free-hand instead of freezer paper stenciled and I think it would have ruined the magic of it. In the end, I love the little point of light sticking out of the end of her wand.
The skirt is especially appropriate for Katie because not only does she love the Harry Potter characters and Hermione in general, she loves to read. Her bed is often so full of books they fall off her bed when she rolls over at night. So even if the girl on her skirt wasn't Hermione, a girl holding a stack of books would still be totally appropriate for Katie.
And yes, she's read every one of those books...but even so she found the stack a little heavy.
Katie also loves wearing skirts to school lately, so she was especially excited for this one.
She's worn it to school quite a few times since she got it...so far always with a different shirt. The wide elastic waistband isn't true to the way the Hogwarts uniforms looked...but it sure makes it more fun and stylish to wear. This skirt would be the perfect addition to a Halloween costume. In fact, the skirt is very similar to Ginny Weasley's Golden Snitch Skirt that I made for Becca's costume.
The rest of what Katie is wearing is from her Halloween costume from last fall when our whole family dressed up as Harry Potter characters. (And this is her making her wand go flying after pretending someone had cast "Expelliarmus" at her.
I'd originally planned to make it a circle skirt for an even fuller affect, but I didn't do a good job estimating the amount of fabric I would need...so it ended up being just a basic straight skirt. You could also make one with thinner elastic inside a casing.
And in the end, I just couldn't resist...making her doll a Hogwart's uniform too. The doll outfit was pretty easy and really deserves it's own post, so I'll try to do that soon. This is the first time I've made doll clothes, and I can already see that it could be addicting!
And be enter the Boutique Academia Giveaway going on right now for your chance to win an Anatomical Heart Necklace from Boutique Academia. You can go here to enter.
I have lots of Harry Potter inspired gifts and fun things in my shop. The selection is always changing.
See these links for more details about other Harry Potter themed crafts we've done...and be sure to check back because I'll be adding more as I get them written up.
Your kids are so blessed by your thoughtfulness and creativity, Polly! Wow!
ReplyDeleteNot only the stack of books, but Hermione's busy stride is a perfect fit for Miss Katie. Love the skirt, the girl inside, and the mama who makes such clever and wonderful things for her family!
ReplyDeleteLOVE IT! The fullness of the snitch skirt is really nice.
ReplyDeleteI love it! The outline is just amazing and the wand is the perfect touch. I was the girl with books covering half my (queen size!) bed, too - good for her!
ReplyDeleteAmy