I wanted to be a Gryffindor for Halloween last year, but couldn't find a pattern for robes that satisfied me (and that I could actually do, because sewing is not my strong point -_-. So I got the idea to do a hoodie that a Gryffindor student might wear.

So I painted the back of a hoodie for the holiday, but afterwards decided to do more. I cut the lion out and sewed in a new sheild (you can hopefully tell from the photos that it's a patterened faux ... velour? Velvet? Told you sewing's not my thing.) And then I just kept adding stuff -- the gold piping across one corner of the sheild, gold beads in the opposite corner and as trim for the sheild, letters at the bottom, and trim everywhere in gold fabric paint. There was a logo on the hood and the left breast, so I painted a sun on the hood (you can still see the star of the log through it, which I think looks cool), and a gold sheild on the breast. I have a Hogwarts Crest cloisonne pin, so the sheild helps to make that stand out. And I had this little Gryffindor sheild charm from a Harry Potter keepsake holder I got a while back, which now acts as a zipper tug ^^ Now I just need to find a long yellow shoelace to use as a drawstring for the hood ...

Needless to say, I can't wait to wear this to Dragon*Con this year. ^^