I should know better than thinking something will be “quick and easy” anymore. Pretty sure every time I say those words, I buy myself a headache in the sewing room 🙂 The McCalls 8029 did not disappoint on fulfilling this same fate. I went from whipping out most of the pattern to scratching my head wondering how I would make this wearable. The pattern had me second guessing my sewing ability for a couple weeks and I almost tossed this to the side. I am so glad I decided to stick with it and in the end have a fun, cute poncho to wear. Read on to see the changes I made to the pattern and how I personally made sense of the McCalls 8029.
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Changes I Made to the McCalls 8029
- Finishing Option – will highlight details below but I completely changed this part of the pattern
- Added Topstitching and understitching details
- Removed interfacing
- Added bias tape trim to seam allowances and hem
So here’s the thing. This pattern actually DOES go together fairly quickly if you are completing it as written. The problem that created for me was a horribly finished poncho. You see the pattern calls for unfinished seams (ok, not a huge dealbreaker on fleece) and sewing the collar together wrong sides and edgestitching. And that is where I began to question my ability to sew. No matter how slow I sewed, the style of topstitching I used, the careful trimming for an even, round collar my end result was…well, crap. I tried three times to get a clean looking edge when attaching the collar. After the third try I knew I could NOT do the pattern as written. I either am the world’s worst topstitcher (which is a definite possibility) or there are better ways to get a cleaner look.
So, let’s pretend that like me, the whole sew the collar wrong sides together is not sitting well with you. Here is what I did instead. I removed the interfacing where I could from the colllar. It is listed in the pattern, but made my fleece way too stiff and thick. Unfortunately I adhered it a little too well to one part and it wasn’t coming off. So, first tip is to skip the interfacing.
Then I placed the collar pieces right sides together and sewed with a 3/8 inch seam allowance. I carefully trimmed and pressed the seam allowance towards the main collar (as that will then be the side that doesn’t show when wearing) and understitched the seam allowance. Finally I pressed the collar as flat as I could (I know pressing with fleece is a little but of a no-no with steam, etc…but I figured, worst case I ruin it…and it was already teetering on the edge of being tossed) so I really did press the crud out of this collar trying to get it to work. Once I was happy with how much flatter and cleaner it was looking, I topstitched the collar all the way around at about 1/4 inch from the edge.
Now that I was happy with the collar it was time to tackle the inside. I began with all the seam allowances and made Hong Kong Seam finishes. There are three main seams only, so this process was not that difficult or time consuming but I found it quite fun. It also makes your seams look so pretty. I also continued the finishing detail all the way around the collar facing. If you need a quick tutorial for this seam finish- check out Mimi G showing you how it is done.
Finally it came time to finish the hem (again the pattern calls for leaving it raw) and I had a decision to make. I decided to add a bias tape to the hem for finishing. This required doing some mitered corners in areas where the poncho had sharp angles. And this required a bit of extra time because this hem feels like the longest stretch of fabric in the world when adding the bias tape. But I loved the clean finish it gave the poncho. I did not love that I didn’t choose a solid green to blend in a tad bit better. So, please take another tip from me, and use a bias tape in a similar shade to disguise it a bit better while wearing the poncho. Need help with mitered corners and bias tape? Here’s a quick video tutorial for you to follow:
So, now I thought I had finished my poncho and created a nicely finished piece, but I was wrong. I put it on my mannequin and this happened…
The following pictures below show what I had to do, but in case that is as clear as mud, the quick video above shows me explaining what happened and how I fixed it.
Finally, the poncho looked like something I could be proud of wearing. No longer was I cringing at my top stitching and unfinished edges. Instead, I was happy to see such pretty insides. I also sewed the belt right sides together and left an opening to turn it right side out. Then I added topstitching all the way around the belt to help give that a more polished look as well. I will leave you with some more pictures of the finished look below. I used anti-pill fleece from Joann for this poncho and I sewed the jeans, top and purse as well. However, I blabbed so much in this post, I will highlight those items in my next one. Thank you for reading. Until next time,
Happy Sewing
About 18 years ago I decided to teach myself how to sew. Long before blogs and resources available today which meant it was often disastrous. But I never gave up because I loved it so much. Today I love helping others get started on their own sewing journey. You can read more about my family and I