Aha! I do know a bit about this, actually—I’ve made multiple elf cloaks in the past. (Also, awesome costume choice—if I celebrated Halloween I’d probably be a LotR elf too.)

So, the only kind of cloak I’ve made before is more like a cape, and less like a full-body thing. I do know how to make and attach hoods, though. 

I use flannel, which I find is easy to work with, looks good, and has the added benefit of being soft and warm, so the cloak is actually functional. At my fabric store, they usually have several solid colors of flannel, including a rather elf-y forest green. 

For the fabric, I would probably get a yard to a yard and a half for the cloak itself, depending on how long you want it to be (mine are usually just a bit above floor length), and an extra half yard for the hood. 

I’ll try to walk you through my method for making these, and hopefully it makes sense.  

Once you have your fabric, you’ll want to cut the long piece to whatever length you want it, if it isn’t already that length. Then fold down all four sides about a half inch, and pin them (assuming you have pins. If not, you can skip this step, but it’ll make the sewing harder). Then, for the hood, I’ll take the smaller piece of fabric and double it, then take one of my hoodies (the one with the biggest hood) and lay just the hood on the smaller piece of fabric. Then I cut around that, about an inch out from the hoodie hood, making sure to emphasize the point at the back. When the hood is cut out, pin the two pieces, right sides together (although I’ve found that with flannel, there isn’t much of a difference between the sides). 

I’m assuming you have a sewing machine or someone you can borrow one from. If you don’t, you might be able to use hot glue or something for all the sewing parts—I’m not sure. I’ve only ever sewn these.

Next, you’ll want to just sew straight down each of those sides of your big rectangle. This makes sure you don’t have raw edges and makes the cloak look cleaner, but it’s kind of optional. I’ve made one without this step and after awhile the edges started fraying, which gave it a more rugged look, so I guess it’s just depending on what you what the end result to look like/ how lazy you are. :P

Then take the pieces of the hood and sew around the side that’s pinned, making sure to leave the bottom and front open. Take out the pins, and pin down the raw edge of the hood’s front. Sew that, take out the pins, and turn the hood inside-out. (Again, sewing raw edges is optional and I’ve done it both ways.)

Next, take the big rectangle and lay it out on a flat surface, right-side (the outside of the cloak) up. Then take the hood and lay it on top of the cloak, matching the straight edge up with the top of the cloak, with the inside of the hood facing up. Pin it and sew it straight across. 

And you’re done! For the closure, I’ve done multiple things. When you try it on, you should notice two little flaps under the hood/shoulders, by the collar. I’ve tied them together in a knot, which works fine and looks pretty cool. I’ve also taken string and sewn it to those parts and gathered them up to look nice, and then tied the strings. You could also use some sort of pin/clasp. There’s a Leaves of Lorien clasp/necklace that you can buy on amazon (that I have, it’s pretty cool, you can wear it as a necklace or take it off the chain to pin the cloak together). I don’t think it’s too expensive. 

I hope this makes sense and helps! Feel free to ask any questions you might have. I might be able to doodle the instructions and post them at some point, so you could have a visual. Let us know how the cloak and costume turn out!

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