Shawls/Ponchos are timeless, and an easy project that can be made out of almost anything.... tablecloth, blanket, quilts.

The white one in the pictures is a heavy tablecloth I found at a yard sale, and the pink is an old afghan I found at a thrift store. I've made several of these for friends and family and I've used everything from blankets and beach towels, to lace curtains and even a cute rug.

Either by hand or machine get that needle and thread ready. Lets make a poncho.

Step 1: What You Need

You will need:

Any blanket, or fabric large enough that when its folded in half it should be long enough to cover your torso and wide enough it will cover your shoulders.
A leg of scrap jean works great, but any fabric can be used as the collar.

Tools:

Scissors
Handful of pins
Tape measure
Marking tool (fabric pen, regular pen, even a dried piece of soap works wonderfully as a fabric pen)
And your machine

*For the several steps I'll be showing pictures of both a round table cloth and a rectangular afghan so I can show it works for any shaped fabric.

Step 2: Fold

Whatever fabric you use lets begin by laying it flat.

Next just fold it in half from left to right.

Fold again but from top to bottom. *imagine folding a wash cloth, just fold it twice in half.

Step 3: Mark and Cut

The corner that is all folded cloth (no fabric edge) is our center. Take your tape measure and we are going to mark how far down we need to cut.
**Adjust based on fabric. A firm not stretchy fabric I recommend marking 4inches, if your fabric is stretchy make your mark at about 3inches.
Cut your corner along your marks. Keep it a curved cut because we want to make a circle.
Unfold it to see your new neck hole.

Set aside and grab your scrap jeans.

Step 4: Scrap Jeans Will Add a Decorative Touch

With your scrap jeans laid flat cut the face of the pants from the bottom hem all the way up to the front pocket. Aim for about 35 inches long and five to six inches wide. It does not have to be exact but nice straight lines do help.

Next lay you fabric down(make sure the inside of your jean is face up). Starting on either side you are going to fold about one inch of fabric back onto itself. Fold it again once more back until your edges meet. Pin into place.

Sew you new hem. *For mine I used a wide zigzag stitch for a decorative look.

Repeat to other edge of fabric for a finished look but one edge will be inside your poncho so hemming the second edge is up to you.

Step 5: Pin and Sew Collar

With my round fabric it makes no difference which is the front or back so I can just start pinning my collar.

Starting on either end, you want your collar to have half it's fabric on one side of your poncho then folded over your neck hole edge and pinned down to the other side.

Keep folding and pinning your collar to your poncho until you've gone all the way around and your collar ends meet. Over lap ends and sew along entire collar and once along the edge where your fabrics overlap.

With your rectangular poncho it does matter what is your front and back (you want your collar hem to be in the back and not randomly over a shoulder) so the only difference is where you start.

Laying your poncho in front of you, grab your collar. You want to start pinning the middle of your collar to the front of your poncho working your way back. Continue pinning your collar until you reach the back.

cut any extra fabric and overlap your ends. Sew along the entire collar and once more where your fabrics overlap.

Step 6: Almost There!

Turn your poncho inside out. Holding it by it's collar. I want you to grab the back with your left hand and the front with your right hand. Lay flat. Double check.... we want the poncho inside out and we are looking for the dead center of the front of the collar. We want to add a slight angle so your collar lays nice and flat in front.

With a strong straight stitch sew then cut that comer. Do NOT cut into your poncho! ONLY the collar needs trimmed.

With that your done.

See what fabrics you have laying around and give it a try.