Popover Ponchos

I have been doing quite a bit of sewing for other people recently, since sewing for myself is a bit of a challenge right now.  Right after Christmas my sewing room turned into a Popover Poncho making factory.  When April Rhodes released this pattern a few months ago I thought it was really cute but I wasn’t sure if it was something I wanted to buy.  Recently she had a blog hop and a lot of the bloggers that were part of the hop had a copy of the printed pattern to give away.  I entered almost all of the giveaways and to my surprise I ended up winning one of them!

I posted a picture on Instagram and Facebook of the pattern and a note that April Rhodes included in my package.  Right away my cousin and a friend expressed interest in having me make them ponchos.  Both settled on flannel versions.  One was a geometric flannel from Joann Fabrics with a navy Kona cotton cowl and the other was a pumpkin colored Shetland Flannel from Robert Kaufman.  We settled on a really fun jacquard chambray for the cowl.  (Both fabrics were purchased from Purl Soho.)

After I finished the first two, I had another cousin and another friend request ponchos.  I recommended the Shetland flannel to both of them.  I really fell in love with this fabric.  It’s so soft and cozy.  Rachael from Imagine Gnats was having a sale in her shop when it was time to order fabric for the last two ponchos.   I made one with the pumpkin flannel again and the second with navy flannel.  The cowls were both made with herringbone chambray.

The construction on these is really simple.  I used french seams on the main body since the fabrics weren’t too bulky.  I installed my first eyelets but ran into trouble installing the drawstring on the first poncho when I realized I didn’t have a safety pin small enough to fit through the eyelets.  I ended up using a long skinny doll making needle, which worked, but really wasn’t ideal.  It kept poking through the fabric and getting hung up on the side seams.  I finally got the drawstring in but knew I needed to come up with a different plan for the next poncho.

I decided to thread the drawstring though the eyelets and pin it in place before I sewed the drawstring casing.  I pinned it to the cowl lining, then flipped the cowl exterior over and pinned again so the drawstring wouldn’t shift and get sewn over when I made the casing.  It worked out really well and I used this method on the next three ponchos I sewed.

I made bias tape from the cowl fabrics and used the bias tape to hem the ponchos.  I love how there is a little peek of contrast at the hem from the bias tape.  My only deviation from the pattern instructions was that I machine sewed the lining of the cowl to attach it at the neck instead of hand sewing it.  I stitched in the ditch and the machine sewing isn’t visible since the cowl is worn folded down over the neck seam.

After sewing four of these ponchos I am sure that I want one for myself.  I wanted to make a gray Shetland flannel version for myself but once I decided on that color it was sold out everywhere.  I will be stalking my favorite online fabric shops in hopes that I can get fabric to make myself a poncho for Spring.

~Teri