MAKE A PONCHO FROM A RECTANGLE

Today I’d like to share a tutorial with you. This is not my forte’ so it’s going to be rather amateurish. Someday I’ll figure out how to do nice drawings on the computer.

Ponchos is our subject today. The ponchos I’ve made are, in actuality, a big rectangle. No shaping capabilities required. Anybody can knit/crochet up a rectangle, right?

I’ll share with you how to make a poncho out of one rectangle (poncho #1) and an entirely different style poncho made with two rectangles (poncho #2).

This is a picture of poncho #1 that I made for myself. I like how this poncho hangs asymmetrically. I used ombre silk ribbon to make the fringe. 

This is a VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: since you are planning to create a specific measurement rectangle, it is not important to consider yarn weight,  or any other of those pesky little details you consider when making other kinds of garments. All you need to do is look at the wrapper of whatever yarn you choose to use and see what size hook or needle is used for this particular yarn. While you're looking at the wrapper, also look to see how many stitches there are per inch. You know from the schematic that you need a rectangle that is 20" across for poncho #1 and now you also know how many stitches there are per inch so the math principle would be: multiply the stitches per inch by 20" and you'll know how many stitches you'll need to work on. e.g. your yarn wrapper says 4 stitches per inch. You need 20". Therefore 4 times 20 = 80 stitches. 

These are the official instructions and measurements for this poncho #1 which I sourced from a magazine.

Poncho #2 is created from two same sized rectangles. You can knit or crochet the rectangles. The two rectangles need to be sewn together according to the drawings here.

I have made many of poncho #2 for little girls so I personally drew 3 graduating sizes of rectangles with the measurements and size for 3 different sizes of ponchos. 

There's a size small (3-7), a size medium (8-14) and size large (adult) in the little hand drawn rectangles. You need to make two (2) rectangles for one poncho and sew them together as per the diagram.

I think it's so amazing that you can make really cool fashions out of rectangles. Next week I will show you more items that can be fashioned from a simple rectangle.