Fitting the North Pole Poncho Onto One Yard of Fabric

The North Pole Poncho by Petite Stitchery. Who doesn’t love a free pattern? I need to find me some epic cozy fabric to use on one of these because I actually really love this pattern. When you just need a lazy layer to hide in or don’t want to think about what to wear, this poncho delivers. I love how it tapers into the long cuffs.

Construction is simple, too. The thing that will take the longest is hemming, which was a breeze on this fabric. A twin needle on your sewing machine gives it a professional finish. I’m a huge fan of twin needles.

About the Fabric

Poly rayon french terry from Made of Love Fabrics. I ordered 4 yards of this stuff in 4 different colors and it’s just lingering! Why? Because it’s only two-way stretch. I’m not sure what I was thinking, but on the plus side, it was all free because I used a gift card my dress-that-almost-wasn’t won in a contest.

So, being only two-way stretch presents some limitations. Honestly, it probably isn’t even ideal for this project. Because of the way the grain runs on this pattern, you wind up with no stretch around your forearms where the poncho meets the cuff. Not the worst thing in the world, but it’s annoying enough.

Other than that, it’s a decent fabric. The cross-grain has some stretch, the looped back adds a bit of warmth, and it has pretty good drape. And that’s all the time I’ll spend on trying to talk up this fabric because I’m just not a fan of it.

What I Did Differently

I had to squeeze this on one yard, which required a few compromises:

• Shortened the front/back curve of the poncho. ::sad face:: I would much rather lengthen it, but this is what I had to work with.
• Used some leftovers for the cowl neck (black rib knit / Made of Love) and the cuffs (black poly rayon french terry / Made of Love.)

Notes for Next Time

• Get enough fabric to cut at length (or longer!)
• Make sure it’s 4-way stretch fabric.
• Maybe double the length of the cowl neck to really get some volume going.
• Lengthen the cuffs even more. Probably another 1″.

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