Vogue 8344 Caponcho

What do you get when you combine a cape and a poncho?  Why, a caponcho, of course!  I've been holding on to Vogue 8344, which was originally published in 2006, for just the right fabric.  I can't tell you how many times, I've pulled out this pattern, and then put it back!

So, after 11 years, I finally found the perfect fabric.  It was a grey ombre wool from Fabric Mart, that had shades of lavender and pink.  This may have been my most favorite fabric EVER to work with!  I don't know who else was able to snag this fabric up, but I would love to see what other people have created with it.

Being a panel fabric, I had three panels to work with.  I used one panel for the front, one panel for the back, and one panel divided between the collar and the sleeves.

 I wanted the color to be at the collar front and the sleeve bottom, which was a bit tricky to work out, but I did the best I could.

With what was left, I constructed the ties. Oops, I see a thread tail that I missed.  How come I can't see these until I'm out somewhere with no scissors?

My only misgiving about this caponcho, is the lack of pockets.  I thought about throwing some patch pockets on the front, but decided that would break up the ombre stripe, since I didn't have any decent size pieces left in the same color as where the pockets would be placed. And due to the general lack of confidence that the pockets would be kept in an upright position when the poncho was open, I thought it might be best not to risk putting my phone in something that could easily get turned upside down.

I thought that this was a very clever design with the look of a cape at the top, and then the rectangles at the bottom.  Here you can see a better view of the general pieces.

Underneath is a new sweater- the massive cowl is from the August 2017 Burda Style issue.  The cowl is underestimated in these line drawings.  It's huge! And it's meant to be worn somewhat off the shoulder.

I used a pale pink sweater wool sweater knit to make mine.  It might be my fabric choice, but the sweater kept growing larger and falling off my shoulders more than I wanted.  It seriously could have just slid right of the whole top of me, which would be a scandalous event.  So, I went back and serged the cowl attachment seam with a strip of clear elastic, stretching it just a teeny tiny bit so that it would stay on.  Here it is on me:

And if I don't want to wear it off the shoulder, this is what it looks like:

I do think it's really pretty, but I do think it's a bit fussy to wear a coat over it.  You have to move the cowl forward to make sure you don't get that hunch back look.  So, it's probably one of those tops to make for a cozy night at home by the fire, or for a day when you don't need a jacket.  But if you don't need a jacket, you're probably not likely to choose to wear a wool cowl neck sweater!  Today might be that type of day- very misty and cloudy but with temps in the mid 50's.

I played around with my newish coverstitch machine and used a variegated thread in the loopers to hem this.

I've got some other plans to make more from this particular Burda issue, I really loved it so much.  So, stay tuned.

Do you wear ponchos or capes, or caponchos?  I'm quickly becoming a fan.

Happy Sewing!
Ann