DIY No Sew Babywearing Poncho Coat

As the cooler Autumn weather approaches, I've been drooling over beautiful babywearing coats that, unfortunately, don't quite fit my budget. As I stumbled across some basic ponchos, I knew that I could probably make one myself. What I didn't know is just how easy it would be! This simple no-sew project is easy and inexpensive. In less than ten minutes and at a cost of less then $10, you can have your own warm and cozy wraparound poncho style babywearing coat! It took me longer to drive to the fabric store and pick out my fleece than it did to create the poncho! This would make a wonderful DIY maternity poncho too!

Materials:

• 60 inch Square-ish piece of fleece. 
• Scissors

No, really. That's it. 

I purchased 1.75 yards of fleece on sale for $3.96 per yard, so my total cost was about $8. My fleece was 60" wide, so I just trimmed the length down to 60", leaving a perfect little scarf sized scrap for my almost 4 year old. If you are considerably petite, you may want to go with a slightly smaller square. I typically wear a size "Large" shirt, and the 60" square worked out just right for me. 

This project is very forgiving, so if your fleece isn't exactly square, or your cut isn't exactly straight, it's no problem!

Steps:

• Cut a slit from one corner in to the center of the square. I did this by folding my square diagonally to make a triangle and folding that in half again to make a smaller triangle. That left a triangle with one thicker fold on one side and two thinner folds on the other side.  I cut one of the thinner folds from the outer edge to the center. (See photo at right....it's occurring to me that this is a pretty confusing explanation for a pretty simple step, so yeah, in whatever way makes sense to you, cut a straight slit from one corner of your square to the center.)
• Lay the fleece out flat and cut a tear drop shape in the center, where the slit you cut ends. This will be
  
  the neck opening. It should extend about 6" beyond the center (I started the tear drop a few inches before the end of the slit) and be about 6" wide.

That's it! You're done with a very basic babywearing friendly poncho. This poncho will accommodate wearing your baby in front, on your back, or on your hip. It can be used with any type of carrier or wrap. 

Simply wrap the poncho around you and your baby! You can allow the tails to drape/hang in front of you, but my preference is to cross one side over the other and pull the tails around my back to tie them to keep it in place an keep out the drafts. This video from Babyette demonstrates how to use her poncho, which is similar in functionality to this DIY No Sew version! You could also add a button or use a clip to fasten it if you prefer not to wrap and tie. The possibilities for personalization are limited only by your imagination!

For more babywearing information, follow my Babywearing Pinterest Board, or check out my recent guest post on Tales of an Unlikely Mother for 10 Reasons to Babywear!