One of my most comfortable and fun costumes to wear is my Slytherin quidditch uniform from Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. The robes were easy to make, but the black pads were either hard to find or priced higher than I was willing to pay. So I’ve made 5 sets of black pads for myself, husband, niece, and 2 friends. They’re not perfect or screen accurate, but my construction of them and the patterns that I digitized, are worth sharing.
[Related: Costuming Quidditch from Harry Potter: Training Robes and Costuming Quidditch from Harry Potter: The Uniform]
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Supplies
Natural sheep skin (~6 sqft per person/set): REED Sheep Leather Hides – Various Colors (Black)
Or faux leather (~5/8 yd per person/set): Fabric Black Cabo Faux Leather Yard
2mm craft foam (~6 sheets per person/set): Black EVA Foam Sheets, 30 Pack, 2mm Thick, 9 x 12 Inch, by Better Office Products, Black Color, for Arts and Crafts, 30 Sheets Bulk Pack
Quilt batting (or rolled up scrap fabric): Tosnail 2 Pack 45-Inch x 60-Inch Soft Natural Cotton Batting for Quilts, Craft and Wearable Arts
1″ D-rings in dark chrome, silver, or black (24 per person/set): BronaGrand Pack of 50 Metal Nickel Plated D Ring (1inch)
Webbing (~4 yards per person/set): Strapworks Heavyweight Polypropylene Webbing – Heavy Duty Poly Strapping for Outdoor DIY Gear Repair, 1 Inch x 10 Yards – Black
Bias tape (~7 yards per person/set): Wrights Double Fold Bias Tape 1/2 inch 3 Yards Black 117-206-031 (3-Pack)
Using the pattern I digitized (link at the bottom of this post), I cut 2 front and 2 back pieces for each knee and circle, arm, and shin. For 3 sets I used sheep skin and 2mm foam, and had a hell of a time pushing everything through my heavy duty machine. I had to use parchment paper for the presser foot to grab the layers. So for the next 2 sets I used faux leather and cotton gabardine.
I sewed the top to the bottom of the knee piece with no padding, and then sewed the circle to the knee with padding under the circle. I closed the edges with bias tape.
Then I sewed the top pieces of each shin and arm to the bottom pieces with rolled quilt batting or scrap fabric in sections (see sewing lines above). I closed the outer edges with bias tape (thick lines above).
On the outer sides of each pad, I attached 4 inch strips of webbing* folded around 2 D-rings, and on the inner sides of each pad I attached longer strips of webbing in the following measurements (sized for me, a 5’6″ medium person):
Arm pads (set of 2): 4 strips at 8″ long
Knee pads (set of 2): 4 strips at 16″ long
Shin pads (set of 2): 2 strips at 10″ long for around the top of calves, 2 strips at 6″ long for around the ankles
*Nylon webbing cut edges were burned with a lighter to prevent fraying. Fray Check can be used on cotton webbing (or sewn).
With our quidditch pads, we’ve also added half-finger gloves: Seibertron S.O.L.A.G 1/2 Finger/Fingerless/Half Finger Multi-Function Sports Gloves Black
Download my PDF Quidditch Pads pattern here: QuidditchPadsRSRW
More Harry Potter costumes on Red Shoes. Red Wine.
Costuming McGonagall from Harry Potter
Wizardbounding 1950’s McGonagall
Costuming Quidditch from Harry Potter: The Uniform
Costuming Quidditch from Harry Potter: Training Robes
Costuming McGonagall from Harry Potter
Costuming a Hufflepuff from Harry Potter
Costuming Molly Weasley from Harry Potter
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I’m a bit envious that you chose faux leather for your Quidditch pads. I chose leather for mine, and my home sewing machine had such a hard time handling it – plus it was hard to shape. Lovely work – and thanks for the link to the gloves! I didn’t end up finding any nearly that close.
Very welcome! Sewing with leather did not come without trouble and a lot of cussing here, and the faux leather sewed better but didn’t stretch right. I think if I needed to make a new set I’d go canvas or something easy. Especially since they’re black and worn over black pants etc.