Harry Potter Costume

So I made Simplicity 3597 today.

I'm not doing an official pattern review, but as I was sewing it, I had quite a few thoughts. It's been a couple of years since I used a Simplicity pattern, but they have a lot of costume designs and since JoAnn's doesn't carry Kwik Sew, I decided to use this one.

Things that bugged me:

1. Lack of marked seam lines. It's so hard to adjust a pattern when you can't see the seam line.

2. 5/8" seam allowance. Just doesn't make sense. 1/2 or 1/4" are the only ones that work. I hate having to trim off all that extra fabric on my serger. If the seam lines were marked, I could easily cut off the extra on the pattern (see 1. above).

3. This pattern was very long. I had to remove 6" of length from the body and he's only 2" shorter than the size I used. I shortened the sleeves by 1.5". I have to say the fit through the chest is actually quite good -- I did a tissue fitting and was pleasantly surprised.

4. Pattern did not go together well at the hood. It just plain old didn't match up with the neckline, by about an inch and a half. It could have been me, I guess. . .

5. It has a facing around the front edge and back neck. WTF? I omitted it.

6. Sleeve facing. Actually it had you cut out a complete lining for the sleeve. I don't know who can ease a doubled sleeve into a tiny little hole like that, but she would be a wonder sewer and I would love to meet her. . .

Unfortunately, all these things add up to a bad experience if you are a beginner or just an occasional sewer who wants to do costumes and things. I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but it makes you wonder if the people at these pattern companies don't have the internet (we've all ranted at the patternreview boards about these things) or just don't care about it.


Despite all that, the finished product is pretty nice. I used a poly crepe (no problemo), and some crushed panne (miserable hell of a fabric). He likes it, but we need to add a wand pocket.




Here it is with the Gryffindor scarf I made from Charmed Knits. I love the finished item, but making a whole large scarf of 1X1 rib made me insane. Let us never speak of it again. . . And after all that, I don't think he can wear it with the costume -- his shoulders are so narrow and the robe so slippery, he'll lose it.

Batty says *need some help setting in that sleeve?*