As promised when I told you what I was lovin’ in October [way back when], I’m spilling all the details of my Popover Poncho with you today!
The Popover Poncho is a pattern from one of my favorite designers – April Rhodes (my Date Night Dress was also her pattern). It’s a simple pattern to follow and you end up with such a sophisticated piece.
I found the gorgeous wool blend I used for the main fabric at JoAnn’s (you can find it online here). Everyone keeps asking if it’s Pendleton Wool [I wish] which makes me smile (because it’s actually much softer and much cheaper!).
After completing the poncho and realizing how delightful this fabric was to work with and to wear (and how stunning it looks as a garment!), I ran back to JoAnn’s in hopes of buying all that was left. To my horror, it was all gone. There was a similar version with teal and orange tones – I bought the remaining 1.5 yards to try to eek out something fabulous!
For construction, I used french seams throughout. After learning how to do french seams with the Date Night Dress, I’ve fallen completely in love with how polished they make the inside of the garment look. Despite the fabric being a bit thick, it cooperated perfectly for the french seams. This fabric was actually a breeze to sew!
I sewed the Small/Medium size and did not make any alterations for the length. When the Popover Poncho was released, I followed the blog hop to read all about how the pattern worked for different people (I love when Indie designers host blog hops when they release a pattern. It’s so helpful to read the reviews and tips from these much more experienced seamstresses on how to best utilize the pattern – many share alterations they made / would make in future versions and fabric suggestions / sources. It’s also great to see how the pattern will look on different body types).
Some of the participating bloggers mentioned that it was a little short and they would try lengthening it for their next version. I was very excited to hear this (weird, right?!) – I felt like that was a good sign that if I followed the original size, it wouldn’t be awkwardly long on my petite frame. I was right! The length is perfect for my height – a stranger even commented on how great the length was for me (she was also petite & mentioned how hard it was to find a poncho that wasn’t way too long. I, of course, recommended that she give the pattern a try). Win!
I did make one omission: I did not add the drawstring to the cowl. I wasn’t in love with the look of the drawstring enough to give grommets or buttonhole-making a try yet (no, I have not learned how to make a buttonhole yet, but I plan to…eventually!). I love how the plain cowl neck of the poncho looks without it (like on this one by Delia Creates).
For the interior of the cowl (which folds over and is shown as the exterior when worn), I used some leftover incredibly soft sandalwood ponte de roma fabric I ordered from Girl Charlee for the Hubs’ Finlayson Sweater. Having a super soft fabric on the interior of the cowl is essential! I wanted something that would feel luscious and warm on cold days.
I also used scraps of the same ponte de roma for the bias binding around the bottom of the poncho. I used my machine to attach the binding and finished it with hand stitching. I used to hate anything that required hand-stitching. It wasn’t until I bound my first quilt that I realized how soothing hand stitching can be. Yes, it’s time consuming, but it really slows you down to appreciate the quality of the piece you are completing – totally worth it!
And I love how the hand-stitching added detail to the edge of the poncho.
I was inspired by how precise the pattern matched up on Cut Cut Sew’s Pendleton Popover Poncho so I took the extra time to cut the front of of my pocket piece to match the pattern where it would be sewn. It’s not totally perfect, but I’m quite proud with how it matched up!
I have been wearing the poncho every chance I get! You can see it in action below at brunch with my family for my birthday 🙂
If you are interested in sewing your own Popover Poncho, you can find the pattern here – this is a great pattern for beginners!
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resliced by Jordan 
I should’ve snagged the fabric when I first saw it. Ah, maybe the will restock.
Fingers crossed! The fabric is fabulous.