Harvester Poncho Tutorial
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Hello quilty friends! I am Ellene McClay of Brave Nouvelle, and I love to make and design unique quilt patterns that are modern and feminine. I also have a background in fashion design, so I love to combine my love of garment sewing with quilting. I wanted to create a fall poncho pattern for those quilters who have had a quilt coat on their to-do list, but maybe haven’t delved into a complex coat pattern yet. This design could be your gateway into quilted garments! There are many different ways you could adapt this design. For this Lone Star quilted version, I added fringe made from recycled t-shirt yarn. This is optional but if you want to be a little “extra” – go for it!
TasiaBelmontPhotography
Can you rock a poncho?
The Harvester Poncho is designed to be an alternative to a quilted coat and is very easy to construct. Ponchos are a versatile styling option to your fall wardrobe and add an extra layer of warmth. Plus they look really cool! This design can be adapted to have longer sides to cover more arm area, or added length if desired. They can be quilted or simply made from one layer of fleece. Choose your own adventure for the fabrics, piecing and quilting!
Before You Begin
Seam allowance: ¼” except when otherwise noted
RST: right sides together
WST: wrong sides together
WOF: width of fabric
WOF is 42” and unwashed fabric
Supplies Needed
Cotton fabric or fleece (or a pieced quilt top that is 42″ x 50″)
Flannel (or a drapey batting like bamboo or wool batting)
Thread
Ruler
cotton twill tape (2 yards of 1″ cotton ribbon)
t-shirt yarn (70 yards – optional for fringe)
Sewing machine
Fabric Requirements
Fabric A ~ Outer Fabric: 1 ½ yards
Fabric B ~ Lining Fabric: 1 ½ yards
Flannel or batting: 1 ½ yards
Binding: FQ or ¼ yard
Cutting Directions
Fabric A {outer fabric}: Cut (1) 50″ x WOF rectangle
Fabric B {lining fabric}: Cut (1) 50″ x WOF rectangle. Fold with the selvedge edges together, and subcut on the fold, so that you will have (2) 42″ x 50″ rectangles
Flannel or batting fabric: Cut (1) 50″ x WOF rectangle
Binding: Cut (2) 2 ½” strips X WOF
Recently I pieced a small Lone Star design, that was about 42″ x 42″. I thought it would be the perfect quilt top for this project, because the center of the star pattern ends up being the neck area of the poncho, and half of the star pattern would be visible on both sides. It needed some extra length to work for this poncho pattern, so I sewed a 4″ strip of coordinating fabric to both the top and bottom edges of the Lone Star. You can use any pieced top for this pattern, as long as it is a minimum of 42″ width x 50″ length.
Cutting Instructions
Lay out Fabric A outer fabric (or the pieced quilt top). Fold outer fabric with selvedges together and the fold facing the top. Mark the exact center top folded edge with chalk or a marking pencil. Measure and mark 4 ½” from the top center, in both the left and right directions (red dots). Measure and mark along each side edge, from the top two corners 3 ½” down the side (in between the blue dots on the same side). Measure and mark along the bottom edge, 3 ½” from the left and right bottom corners in toward the center (in between the yellow dots on the same side). Measure and mark 2″ down from the top center for the back neckline (green dot). The front neckline will be cut in the next step.
Cut in a straight line from the large blue dots to the red dots on each side.
Cut in a straight line from the blue dots to the large yellow dots on each side.
Cut in a straight line from each red dot to the green dot on the center neckline.
Separate the poncho front from the poncho back. Lay out the poncho front piece only. Measure and mark from the neckline that was already cut in the previous step (green dot), 5″ down on the center line.
Cut in a straight line from each red dot to the orange dot on the center line.
Repeat the measuring and cutting steps to cut the front and back shapes of Fabric B (lining fabric) and the flannel.
If you are adding the optional fringe, you will need to measure (140) 16″ pieces of t-shirt yarn. You can use a cardboard mailing box or anything flat that is approximately the right size. This box was a bit larger than 17″ wide, so that will leave a bit of extra when the fringe gets trimmed later. This yarn needs to be cut on both sides of the box so that each piece of fringe is a bit longer than 16″. Of course you can make the fringe shorter if you prefer.
Cut (2) pieces of cotton twill tape at 1 yard each.
Quilting Directions
The poncho front and the poncho back will each be quilted with a layer of flannel or batting (the lining fabric will not be a part of the quilting process).
Layer with WST the poncho Fabric A front piece with the Fabric B flannel front piece.
Baste these 2 layers with either spray baste or pins. Mark the quilting lines and quilt as desired. Quilting that is less dense is recommended so that the fabric retains a nice drape and does not become too stiff. I quilted the Lone Star poncho with 45 degree diagonal seams that were 2 ½” apart.
Quilt the lines with your chosen thread color. The quilting line placement that I used is shown on the inside of the flannel so it is easier to see.
Repeat the same quilting design for the back of the poncho. Baste with WST Fabric A poncho back piece and the Fabric B flannel back piece and then quilt the lines as on the front.
Assembly Instructions
Sew with RST the quilted poncho front and the quilted poncho back, matching top edges at the shoulder seams using a ½” seam allowance. Sew from the left red dot to the left blue dot, and repeat this process with the dots on the right shoulder side.
Lay out the outer poncho so that the wrong side is facing up. Press the shoulder seam open. Topstitch on each side of the shoulder seam ¼” away from the shoulder seam (from each red dot to each blue dot.
Do this on the left and right poncho shoulder seams.
Sew with RST Fabric B front to Fabric B back (lining front and back) from the red dot to the blue dot on each side.
Lay out the poncho lining so that the wrong side is facing up. Press the shoulder seam open. Topstitch on each side of the shoulder seam ¼” away from the shoulder seam(from each red dot to each blue dot.
Do this on the left and right poncho lining shoulder seams.
Place the poncho lining inside the poncho outer fabric with RST. Pin carefully around the neckline, matching shoulder seams.
Sew with RST around the neckline with a ¼” seam allowance. At the V neck point of the neckline, it is helpful to put a tiny snip, less than ¼”, so that once the poncho is turned right side out, the V neck lays nicely.
Turn the poncho right side out, so that the wrong side of the lining is facing the wrong side of the outer poncho fabric. Smooth out the 2 layers and make sure the shoulder seams of the lining and the outer fabric match up.
Press around the neckline.
Making sure that the inner and outer layers of the poncho are smooth and matching at the shoulders and corners, use a ruler to trim any uneven edges along the sides and bottom of the poncho.
The optional step of adding fringe will require a pressed edge on the bottom edge of the poncho. Fold up the front hem and back hem of the poncho ½” and press.
The sides of the poncho will have binding, but the hem will have fringe inserted. (If you choose to forgo the fringe, skip this step, and when you sew on the binding on later, you will sew the binding all the way around the raw edge sides and bottom edge of the poncho.)
Lay (1) yard of cotton twill tape out and place a chalk mark every ½”. These marks will be your guide when you stitch the t-shirt yarn fringe pieces onto the twill tape. Repeat these marks on the other (1) yard of twill tape.
Stitch one end of each piece of fringe onto the twill tape and continue until the twill tape has a piece of fringe at every chalk mark. There will be approximately 70 pieces of fringe on one piece of twill tape. Sew the fringe onto the second piece of twill tape.
Place (1) piece of the fringe trim you created previously along the inside hem of the outer poncho front.
Pin the folded edge of the lining fabric hem to the edge so that the twill tape will be sandwiched in between the front outer poncho and the lining. Ensure that the edges of the folded hem of the lining and the edge of the hem of the outer poncho are even.
Topstitch along this folded hem with a ¼” seam allowance.
Finishing Directions
The binding will be sewn to both sides of the poncho. (If you did not add the optional fringe, the binding will be sewn all the way around the sides and the hem. You would turn the corner of the binding just as you would on the corner of a quilt.)
Prepare binding by folding it in half lengthwise and pressing. On one end, press ½” of the short end to the inside and press. One WOF length of binding will suffice for each side of the poncho.
Align the folded end of the binding strip to the finished hem edge of the poncho.
Stitch the binding onto each side of the poncho, and when you get to the end of the poncho side, trim off the binding overage so that you have just enough binding fabric to fold under ½”, just as you did at the beginning. This will give a finished edge on both ends.
Fold the binding over to the lining side of the poncho, clip and then hand stitch to finish. The binding is complete.
The last step is to put a couple of strong stitches on either side in the low underarm area, so that the poncho stays in position while wearing it.
Measure 9″ up from the hem and 7″ over from each side, and place a pin where the pink dots are. Machine stitch these 2 spots with a few stitches back and forth, so that it is very secure. While the poncho is being worn, these function as a very minimal “sleeve”.
Choose a different adventure!
If you prefer not to quilt the poncho and want a very fast project that you can wear to a chilly sporting event this fall, you can use one layer of fleece, and forgo the lining completely.
The edges do not fray so they do not need to be hemmed. Just cut the same shapes as in the quilted poncho for the front and back pieces, and sew at the shoulder seams. No lining is needed. Then put a stitch in the underarm spot as before and you are done! This quick and easy version would make a great holiday gift.
If you are looking for some great Lone Star quilt patterns, Plains and Pine has several options, and you can find some of her free patterns here. For the fringe, you can find many color options of tshirt yarn at Ganxett and a nice selection of Art Gallery Fabrics and some dreamy woven Fableism fabric at Cottoneer Fabrics. Cottoneer Fabrics has kindly offered Quilters Candy blog readers the special discount code “Poncho” to receive 10% off of orders! The code will expire on November 30th at 11:59 PM PST, and excludes gift certificates and preorders. If you’re ready to create a quilted garment, grab your free Harvester Poncho pattern!
I would love to see your quilted ponchos over on instagram! Please tag me, @BraveNouvelle, and use the hashtags #quiltedponcho and #bravenouvelle.
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