- Prep Time5 min
- Total Time15 min
Make your own Harry Potter DIY Felt Tie. Use it for your DIY costume, as a return present or as that little bit extra for your Harry Potter Party.
We did all of these for our recent Harry Potter party: The kids got school ties according to their house colours after the sorting. They wore the ties throughout the party, so we could tell the teams apart during the many Hogwarts classes/games. (Post about the games with lots of free templates coming soon)
After the party they could take the ties home as a part of the return present. We also made everyone a bag of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans from Honeydukes like seen below. The template for these bags is also coming soon.
The felt ties are very simple to make and they add that little bit extra to a Harry Potter school uniform costume. We didn’t make a costume -like we usually would- for my kids this time but the ties did make their white t-shirts a little more fun. See how to make your own Platform 9 3/4 wall here.
Making a Harry Potter DIY Felt Tie as return presents
As mentioned already, these felt ties are easy to make and they don’t require any special skills. It did, however, take about 3-4 hours to make 17 of them. Always consider this before you decide to make any handmade return presents. I was lucky this was a small party with only 15 guests in total.
I had the same “problem” for our Moana Party where I made Frangipani Hair Flower Clips for all the kids. It’s easy and quick to make one, but to make 35 is a little more time-consuming. I do, however, like adding that little personal touch to every party. And I don’t think I will ever learn not to start these projects. But now you are warned! It takes longer than you might think.
To make it easier download the FREE template here: Harry Potter Felt Tie FREE Template
To make a Harry Potter DIY Felt Tie, what kind of glue is best?
I tried with both white glue and with a glue gun. In the step-by-step guide below I have used regular white Fevicol glue. In the video below I have used the glue gun for all the steps. There are positives and negatives for both:
Positives and negatives on using the glue gun:
- It is faster to use as it dries quickly.
- It doesn’t leave any white marks on the felt after drying.
- The glue gun is hot, so kids cannot use it as easily as adults without getting burned.
- The glue gun cannot always make thin lines for the thin strips of felt which means small blobs of transparent glue end up here and there. I cut these off with a sharp knife afterwards (as seen in the video)
Positives and negatives on using normal fevicol glue:
- It takes longer to dry
- It’s easier for kids to handle than a hot glue gun
- Sometimes the white glue will leave a little white colour behind. Especially on darker colours.
Ingredients
Directions
Draw the tie onto the felt sheet and cut it out. Measure out the elastic to 43-45cm and keep it ready too.
Cut thin and thick strips of felt of another colour. The Gryffindor tie is red with dark yellow, Slytherin's is green and grey, Huffelpuff's is yellow with black and Rawenclaw's is blue with grey.
Use your glue gun to glue the elastic together. If you don't have a glue gun, use needle and thread instead.
Glue the elastic string onto the tie where the joint on the elastic is. Add more glue and fold it.
Use regular white glue or the glue gun to glue on the strips of felt. Make sure the lines match the vertical cut at the bottom of the tie. The pattern is two thick lines closer together, then one thin line, then two thicker lines again and so on
Instead of measuring the strips, just glue them on and let the ends go beyond the border. It's easier and the end product will be better. Let the glue dry.
After the glue has dried, cut off the excess strips around the sides.
And you are done. I also made a black tie with all the house colours for myself, as we decided I was going to be "the teacher". Hope you have fun with this project and have a fun Harry Potter party. There are a lot more inspiration to be found on this site. Please check the themed party category on top of this page.
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