Plaid "Poncho" Not a Poncho

I'm back to sewing for me and it feels great! I'm actually wearing all me-made here. The jeans were made last year and can be seen here. Today, I want to show you my new poncho- not a poncho, and a Plaintain T, modified. 

Poncho's are comfy and awesome, buuuuuuuut- sometimes not that useful. I have a gorgeous, wool, hand-knit (not by me yet) poncho that I love. Trouble is that it is hard to throw a bag over your shoulder and go grocery shopping in a poncho. Put the bag under the poncho and you'll look like a shoplifter. Sometimes I wear it in the house, like a sweater, but then I can't lift my arms over my head or stir a pot at the stove so well. My solution was to make an over-sized dolman T out of a thick flannel fabric I bought at Joann's a couple of years ago. It is very thick and brushed and cozy - and on trend. 

After cutting my front and back pieces, which were identical, I serged all the edges first thing. I used my regular machine to sew them together and pressed the seams open. I did it this way to reduce bulk. I added patch pockets to the front. The sleeves and bottom are turned just once and hemmed since I serged first. Turning twice would have again been very thick.

The neckline is finished with a repurposed tank top of wide-rib knit. I cut the hem off the tank and cut it off under the armpits. It is folded in half and serged on, then top-stitched. This rib knit is super stretchy so I made the circumference 75% of the neck opening. The top of the cowl (where it is folded over) is much narrower, about 14" only. It was an experiment that went very well. I really get a kick out of this kind of experimental sewing. As long as you only use a basting stitch first, you can try anything and know that it can be removed easily. Then make it permanent if you like it, or re-adjust and try again.

The t-shirt is a Deer & Doe Plantain Tee with a higher neckline and one inch added to the sleeve length. The fabric is super nice cotton lycra from Girl Charlee. The special part is on the wrists. These are as close to tattoos as I'll ever get. I found an olive branch image I liked and made 2 freezer paper stencils. I painted them on, placed an extra scrap of the same fabric behind it,  and then added backstitch outlines and cut out the olive shapes. I had planned on doing the whole thing reverse applique, but decided I liked it just cutting out the olives. 

This trail is my daughter Olivia's favorite place. I come hiking here once a week. It is just gorgeous. I want to include pictures of it in case she gets a chance to peek at the blog. You are in my thoughts always, Olivia.