A lot of people have asked me for a pattern based on my fancy dress costume based on the character Harley Quinn from Batman (a few people even wanted to buy it!), and I’ve finally found time to write it out. The costume itself is dead easy to make with only a basic knowledge of your sewing machine. My hat is knitted (and was a little tricky for me to work out so the pattern might not be the best in the world), but I’ll include basic instructions of how to knock up a sewn version if that’s what you want. Please note that the sewn hat pattern won’t have been tested, so if you find it doesn’t work please let me know so I can update the pattern. Enjoy!

Costume Pattern

(the hat pattern can be found after this)

When I made this I had no idea how to make a pattern so what I did was to go and buy some cheap clothes and sew them together to make up Harley’s distinctive black and red jumpsuit. It might be worth getting things a size too big for you to allow for all that stitching.

You will need:

• 1 black long-sleeved stretchy top
• 1 red long-sleeved stretchy top
• 1 pair of black leggings
• 1 pair of red leggings (I couldn’t find any so I bought a couple of meters of red lycra on ebay)
• 1 sewing machine (or a needle and a hell of a lot of patience)
• A reel or two of red cotton thread
• A reel or two of black cotton thread
• 1 pair of scissors
• Some chalk or a fabric pen
• Some newspaper for tracing out patterns
• An old white shirt
• Some white material or white bangles
• 1 pair of sexy shoes (I happened to already have some black shoes with red trim that I use, but if you don’t have any shoes that seem Harley-esque, save some scrap material to cover an ordinary pair, I’ll explain how lack)

Optional:

• 1 pair of red gloves
• 1 pair of black gloves (or more scraps)
• Velcro or safety-pins

We’ll start off making the top.

Take the black long-sleeved tops and lay it face up on your work surface. Harley’s harlequin jumpsuit forms a cross just above her waist, so to get that effect with your top you’ll be making something that resembles a rugby shirt or maybe a jockey’s shirt; with alternating black and red chunks forming a cross at the centre of the shirt. Mark out where the centre of the first shirt is and using a ruler mark a cross running from the neck to the hem and from side to side. Decide which parts you’re going to want to keep: in the comics, the black parts of Harley’s costume are on the top left and bottom right when facing the costume, so if you want to stay true to the source, those are the bits you want to keep. You’ll want to keep a good inch or so for seams so mark those out and hack up your top accordingly (remember to keep the back and front of each part attached: these sections are quarters not eighths). Don’t throw away the top right and bottom left parts though, you’ll need those later.

Now do the same for the red top, but remember you now want to keep the top right and bottom left sections.

Now the tricky bit: sewing it all together. Start with the top two quarters: turn them inside out so your seams will all be on the inside, make sure it’s as you want it with the two back sections and the two front sections together, then slowly and carefully sew up the two seams following the centre lines as closely as possible. Check you’ve got it as you want it by trying it on before sewing on the bottom two quarters, starting with the horizontal line then the verticals (I found that easier).

But we’re not finished yet. Harley’s costume has little diamonds on the sleeves. Trace out three diamond shapes of each colour on the scrap material, about 2 inches by 1 ½ inches in size looked good on mine but it’ll depend on the size of you’re costume and the effect you’re going for. The red diamonds go on the shoulder of the black side and the black diamonds go on the forearm of the red side (you may want to check some reference pictures, I certainly did, I’ve included one below) so carefully sew them onto the shirt as desired (if you think it’ll be easier you can add the diamond appliqués before sewing the four quarters together).

Now for the leggings. This bit’s a little easier since it’s only two parts: one black leg and one red leg. If you’ve got red leggings to start off with it’s even easier, just cut the two pairs of leggings in half leaving a little room for seams and sew together. If you only have red lycra, don’t fret. Cut up the black leggings then trace the shape onto the red lycra (though make sure you copy the back and front as separate bits to allow room for your bum!). Sew the red lycra pieces together into a matching leg shape and sew it onto the black legging.

Image via Wikipedia

Now you’ll need a few more of those diamonds. I made mine a little larger than the ones on my arm but you don’t have to. The red diamonds go on the bum (or just below) on the black side, the black ones on the shin of the red side.

Now try it on. If you find the top and the leggings are riding up and down, you might want to add Velcro or safety-pins to keep them in place.

If you don’t have gloves, you can quickly knock up a pair of fingerless ones from the scrapped sleeves from the bits of the two tops you don’t want. For those funny white cuffs Harley has you can either wear a pair of thick white bangles or make some tubes from white material, stuff them with a little stuffing and draw on the wiggly pattern with a fabric pen. To make the white collar, I took an old white shirt and cut out the wiggly pattern onto the back of it (the handy thing with doing this is there’s already a button to secure it, using the back of the shirt as the front of the collar), then added some pompoms to the bottoms of each wiggle. Add a domino mask and some white face-paint and you’re almost Harley! If you don’t have suitable shoes, you can make some pointy covers to hide your shoes: find some scrap material (felt works particularly well for this) and cut out a thick V shape with the point thick enough to cover the toes of your shoes and the sides thick enough to cover the sides. Add some Velcro at the non-pointy end of the V so you can secure at the back and some elastic level with the ball of your foot and ta-da! Fabulous pointy shoes!

PS, if you’re wondering about the corset in the photos of me, I had that specially made for me to go with the costume long after I’d finished making it. If you want to contact JupiterMoon3, the woman who made it for me, here’s her site.

To make the hat

Sewn version: Using some more black and red pieces of lycra, take a balaclava that fits you loosely to use as a pattern (or spend some time tracing out a head-shaped pattern). Each piece will cover one side of your head, so it needs to be half the width of your head. Mark where your forehead, temples, and jaw-line will fall and cut out a face-shaped window for yourself before sewing the two pieces together (these should contrast with the top half of your “jumpsuit” so the left side should be red and the right black). Make sure your hat will either stretch over your jaw to reach your neck or you add a button or snap fasteners to do it. Now trace out two droopy cone shapes of each colour which will form the two “ears” on Harley’s hat. Sew two pieces of the same colour together, stuff them and then sew them onto the hat. Add some pompoms to the edge and you’re done!

Knitted version: I made this long before I made the costume, hence why it doesn’t quite fit in with the rest of the costume. But I think it’s really cool and pretty wearable as a novelty hat anytime. I adapted the pattern from my Batman Bataclava pattern, so it might be a bit cumbersome, but it came out a treat. Like the sewn version it has to be made in several parts: the two side pieces and then the two “ears” with some pompoms at the end (or in my case little balls of wool since I finished it in a hurry!).

You will need:

• 1 ball of red worsted weight wool (or two strands of 4 ply)
• 1 ball of black worsted weight wool (or ditto)
• A pair of 6mm straight needles
• A set of 6mm dpns (double pointed needles)
• Some scrap white wool
• A darning needle
• Two snap-fasteners
• Gauge: 5 stitches x 7 rows to an inch, approximately

You’ll start from the bottom up, although originally I made mine starting from where the brim of the hat would have been since I was adapting another pattern. The two sides are mirror images of one another and the two “ears” are identical. Since it’s knit in stocking stitch it’s pretty easy to make and the finished hat is stretchy enough to fit most adult heads.

Red Side:

Cast on 25 stitches (or enough to cover half of your neck)

Work evenly in stocking stitch for four inches (or long enough to cover your neck from your jaw to your shoulder).

Bind off 5 stitches on the right side of the piece (that’s the side that will be the front.)

Continue to work evenly for four inches (or the distance from your jaw-line to that prt of your skull that starts to curve outward.)

Increase one stitch every row at the left side of the piece (the side that will be at the back of your head) until you have 27 stitches.

Now cast on a further 15 stitches at the right hand side of the piece (this will go over your forehead)

Work evenly in stocking stitch for another five inches.

Place four markers as evenly as possible across the piece.

*k2tog before each marker, then knit one row plain* four times, then k2tog on each row until there’s about 7 stitches left.

Bind off leaving a long tail and draw the tail through the remaining stitches and pull tight.

Black side: (this is basically a mirror of the side you’ve just done)

Cast on 25 stitches.

Work evenly in stocking stitch for four inches or so

Bind off 5 stitches on the left side of the piece (the front)

Continue for another four inches or so.

Increase one stitch every row on the right side of the piece (the back)

Cast on 15 more stitches on the left side (for your forehead)

Work evenly for five inches

Place four markers evenly

*k2tog before each maker then knit one round plain* four times, then k2tog every row until you have about 7 stitches left.

Bind off as you did for the red side.

Now sew the tow halves together, starting as the base of the neck at the back and continuing around to the forehead. To secure the front of the neck, attach snap fasteners to the front of the neck section (the bit that will fit under your jaw). You may want to try it on and mark where the two sides meet to put the fasteners in the right place).

“Ears” (make one black and one red)

Cast on 30 stitches on dpns and arrange them so that 10 stitches are on each needle. Join round without twisting.

Work evenly for two inches, then k2tog at the start of each needle.

Continue doing this until you have 4 stitches left on each needle then k2tog on every round until you have 3 stitches left altogether.

Break the yarn leaving a long tail, draw this through the remaining stitches and pull tight, then draw the yarn inside the cone you’ve just made.

Stuff the cone then sew it onto the hat on the side of the matching colour wherever you want it. If you want thicker “ears” just add more stitches and decrease more often, for thinner ones use fewer stitches.

Now make some pompoms with the white wool and secure these to the ends of the ears. It should look something like this when not on.

And there you have it: your very own Harley hat! All you need now is a mad clown and a red-headed plant lady to hang out with and you’re ready to hit Gotham!

If you like my crafty hints, tips and patterns check out:

• Bataclava Batman hat pattern
• How to Make an Easy Shawl
• Guide to Wire Knitting
• How to Make Vampish Gothic Gloves
• Lydia Poncho Knitting Pattern
• Transformittens
• How to get really big hair
• Toddlets Sweeney Todd mittens
• Edward Scissorhands costume how-to