August arrived, and I was finally able to go and visit my parents' having not been able to see them for what seemed like such a long time. My father is considered to be medically very vulnerable to Covid 19, and so takes social distancing very seriously. Luckily, the weather was glorious, so we spent a lot of time in the garden - and as the evening chill set in my father wrapped a blanket around his shoulders and complained that my mother would not allow him to cut a hole in the middle of the blanket, so that he could wear it as a poncho. Frankly, I am with my mother here; it is a lovely blanket and would be far less lovely with a hole in the middle of it. Naturally, I offered to rustle up something a little more suitable and less contentious than a mutilated blanket.
The obvious fabric choice for an evening garden poncho was fleece, and I managed to find a reasonably priced one on ebay, sold by crsfurfabrics. My father is a big man - around 6'4'' tall, so to be sure the poncho was long enough to cover him snuggly and not let drafts up his back I bought 3m of fabric. Making the poncho itself was very simple. My father had decided that he would like a hood on it: I cheated a bit and borrow the hood pattern from the MellySews Men's Hoodie pattern link at end of post), which is a free pattern when you subscribe to her newsletter. In the event, whilst it is a perfect hood pattern for the hoodie it is designed for, I think something a bit bigger would have suited the poncho a bit better. But hey, never mind, it still keeps his head warm.
I cut the hood out first, from the end of the fabric, and then trimmed the fabric back into a rectangle. I then folded the fabric into a quarters, and cut a neckhole, attached the hood and finished the edges with a simple single turned seam. And voila - one poncho!
Father, obviously, was very keen to try it out when I visited again at the end of the month, although he did complain that I hadn't sewn any badges onto it. I think he thinks he is in the scouts. Maybe I will look out for woven badges from places he has visited and gradually sew them on for him.
I think it was reasonably successful, and he insists I now need to make ponchos for the rest of the family. I am not sure the rest of the family view the prospect with quite so much enthusiasm, however!
Photos by Lucy of MoongazeyHare.co.uk