I have wanted to crochet wearables for a while now. It was important to me, as a plus size lady myself who hates falling in love with something only to find out it won’t fit, that what I made was as size-inclusive as possible. I finally decided on a poncho.
- Loops and Threads Facets Yarn (5 skeins)
- Hook Size 4mm
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Pattern by Bag-o-Day Crochet
I chose this yarn because it’s soft to the touch and because of its eye-catching silver threads. They’re hard to see in photos, but when the light hits those threads it gives the project a more upscale look, in my opinion. Besides, who doesn’t love a little bit of bling in their poncho?
My teenage nephew received a 3D printer last Christmas. I recently bought him some fun filament and asked for a kitty cat yarn bowl. He definitely delivered! There’s even an embossed image of a yarn ball inside the bowl. I love it! This poncho was the first project I used with my new yarn bowl.
I should also mention, this poncho pattern comes from a YouTuber I love watching called Bag-o-Day Crochet. Her patterns are super easy to understand! Here’s the video if you’d like to make your own “Sunshine Days” poncho.
I started with four skeins of yarn and learned quickly that I needed more. This was not going to be a belly-poncho. Absolutely not.
I quickly ordered four more skeins of yarn from Michael’s website.
I worked on this poncho for daaaaaayys! Half an hour here, two hours there… I lost track of how long the whole thing took me. If I had to guess, I’d say this poncho ate at least 14 hours of my life. Remember, I was using a smaller 4mm hook because parts of the yarn were very thin (while a few pieces of yarn could’ve passed for bulky #5). Smaller hooks automatically mean more time on a project. I didn’t mind, though, because I knew how I wanted the finished piece to look.
So I kept at it, one stitch at a time. Two rows of all DC (double crochet) followed by one row of DC, SKST (skip stitch), repeat. The corners were easy, too, following the same stitch pattern on every single row. After a while I forgot about the pattern and set myself on auto-pilot. I love when a project becomes easy enough for my muscle memory to kick in and take over.
All in all, this size-inclusive poncho took seven skeins of yarn, at a cost of $6 each. That’s $42 in materials.
I don’t keep close track of time anymore since becoming disabled, but let’s say it took me 14 hours.
I don’t charge per hour of my time. I usually double the material cost to find my retail price. I sell on Etsy, meaning there’s a Etsy seller fee, shipping material costs, shipping fees, and merchant (payment portal) fees. Those usually equal 10% of the customer price. I also run 20-40% sales throughout the year.
With all that said, I decided to list this poncho for $89.95. That way I recover all costs and make a decent profit for my time.
While I don’t look forward to photo shoots (the bending and moving tends to aggravate my nerve pain), I love editing the photos almost as much as I love crocheting.
Then there are the item views and Etsy Favorites notifications. But that SOLD email is the best feeling in the world! Someone saw something I put a lot of time and effort info, and they decided to spend their hard earned money to own it. Wow. That means so much to me and all other handmade artisans out there!
Thank you to Bag-o-Day Crochet for helping me turn these simple fibers into a one of a kind wearable work of art. I enjoyed this project so much that I bought more of this yarn in the color-way Urban Sky.
Please leave a comment below and tell me what you thought about this new project and if you’re excited to see it in those new shades of blue, green, and tan.
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Stay crafty, friends.
Melissa Jane
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