Dublin Poncho

Directions

Sampling and Planning

1. Since I was doing a project of this scale, I actually sampled. I guess Jane influenced me in that regard. I put a solid grey warp on my 10" Cricket Loom and wove three sections. Starting from the left picture below: grey was used in the weft, the middle picture shows my sample alternating grey and green weft threads, and to the right is green in the weft. I ended up really liking the middle one.

   

Warping and Weaving

1. I decided on an 8 dent reed, full 30" width and I set my warping pegs about 120" away. This seemed like a lot. I set it up so the pegs were on one side of the counter and the threads that were closest to the peg were laying on the counter before going to the loom on the stand I set up in the living room. So the warp threads were supported by the counter a little. I found this to be really helpful in the warping process.
2. I warped the loom with the Sweatshirt Grey all the way across the loom. While weaving, I loaded 2 shuttles, one with the grey and one with the Shamrock and alternated back and forth between the two colors. I beat evenly making a balanced weave until I couldn't weave anymore, and then tied off the knots in groups of 4.
3. I used a serger to separate the pieces for the Poncho Pattern. You could also use a zig zag stitch on your regular sewing machine or even Liquid Stitch. If you are applying the Liquid Stitch, I would recommend putting a half inch strip all the way down your fabric, letting it dry and then cutting in the middle of that half inch strip.
4. I cut 2 pieces that were 40" from either side of the woven piece of fabric so that there would be 2 large pieces with fringe (keeping as much fringe as possible to work with later), along with a third piece in the middle. From that middle piece, I cut a piece that measured 15" X 24" (the width of the fabric) that became the hood.

Assembly

1. For the body: Take one of the long strips of fabric and lay it vertically. Measure 14" down the right side of the vertical strip, and place the short end of the identical strip perpendicular to the first. Stitch these together along the dotted line.

   

2. Measuring 14" from the seam, identify point B along the top of the horizontal strip. Match points B to B and A to A. Seam the length of A to B (dotted lines). The seams holding the main body together are a tight elongated whip stitch with the fabric overlapped (pictured below). I continued down the single serged edge with this stitch for a decorative finish. The 14" unseamed corner creates the neck-hole of the poncho.

   

3. For the hood: To create the hood, fold the set-aside fabric in half, and seam along the top, round the corner, and side. Fold back about an inch of fabric at the front of the hood and tack that in place. Fold the hood to be right side out after trimming any extra fabric along the curve.

   
4. To attach the hood, center the poncho on your body and find the center front. Pin the front edges of the hood on either side of this center mark and whip stitch the hood onto the poncho. Around the face of the hood, the edge is rolled back in a 1" hem to add a finishing touch.
5. To complete the poncho, fringe twist the ends in groups of four (twist two groups of two in one direction, and then twist those back on each other the opposite way).  Mine ended up being 5" fringe after twisting and knotting the ends. Wash and lay flat to dry. Wear often to stay warm and comfy!