I am so happy that the cold weather is finally here to stay. I love being able to have a fire and cozy up under some blankets. What isn’t so fun is dealing with getting the girls in and out of the car. We all know that coats and car seats don’t mix, so you have to find solutions to keep kids warm. That’s why I made a fleece giraffe poncho for Annabelle back when she was two.
Gah! I can’t believe she was so little!!
When she was in the car seat I used it like a blanket (i.e I buckled her all in then used the poncho as a blanket. The car seat straps were snug against her body. The poncho WAS NOT between her and the straps). Then when we got to our destination I simply unbuckled Annabelle then threw the poncho over her. No dealing with arm holes or snaps and zippers. Now that she is four she doesn’t fit into the poncho any more, and it has been handed down to Autumn (who looks just as cute).
I finally got my act together and made Annabelle her own poncho, this time going with a cheetah. I took pictures so that you can do the same! It’s actually not to hard to do, and they turn out super cute!
STEP ONE
The first thing you need to to is cut your fabric. I started with but cutting the fleece fabric. To determine how big you cut the square you will need to measure your child finger tip to finger tip. You will want to cut your squares at least a few inches bigger than that. I made mine extra big so that it’s good for a few years.
Annabelle’s measurement : 43″ finger tip to finger tip
Square measurement: 58″ x 58″
STEP TWO
Fold your square in half length wise,and then width wise.
You will end up with something like this.
Now you need to measure the neck hole and bottom of the poncho (which are obviously cut in the above photo). From the corner of the poncho measure down 1″-2″. This will be the neck hole. I wish I could give more precise measurements, but it really all depends on your child’s age and head size. I suggest starting small, then making it bigger if needed. Or even better grab a scrap piece of fabric to test it out on.
After you have the neck hole cut you want to cut the bottom of the poncho. Meausure from the neck hole down the length you want.
For Annabelle I wanted do make the poncho 28″ long, so I measured down 28″.
STEP THREE
Next up cut the lining fabric. If your square is 42″ or smaller you can use the same process as steps one and two. But, if it’s bigger you will have to cut the lining in two pieces.
I folded the poncho in half and used that as a pattern to cut two half circles.
Notice I left some space above. You need to leave room for a seem allowance. I actually just traced across the top of the poncho so that I knew where to sew. So go ahead and sew the top.
STEP FOUR
Grab a shirt with a hood on it, and trace it. You will cut two hood pieces out of the flannel, and two out of the fleece.
Once they sew the flannel pieces right side together, and the fleece pieces, right sides together.
Next you need to cut ears out of fleece. I used two pieces per ear to give it some stability. After you have sewen the ears together you need to make a slit on each side of the hood.
You will be sandwiching one ear in each slit.
Sew the ears on! You should end up with something that looks like this.
STEP FIVE
In this step you will attach the hoods to the poncho. The fleece hood goes with the fleece poncho, the flannel attaches to the flannel poncho.
With the fleece poncho there really isn’t a “right” way. Just start pinning the hood to the poncho, with right sides together.
With the flannel part you probably will want the seam at the shoulders, so you’ll pin the seam of the hood (which is the middle of the hood) between the seam of the poncho.
STEP SIX
Next you will sew the lining and fleece part together. Turn them both inside out and fit the flannel poncho inside the fleece one so that the right sides are together. Sew around the hood and neck hole.
STEP SEVEN
You’ve made it to the last step! Turn the the poncho right side out and lay it out on the ground.
Trim up any pieces that don’t match up. then pin the lining and fleece together. Either serge or run a tall zig-zag stitch around the entire bottom.
Find your child and see how awesome the poncho looks! My darling daughter was in a bit of a mood, so I wasn’t able to get any great pictures, since it was later, and she was in a bit of a mood.
As you can see, it is pretty large, but that way she can use it next year too.