Friday, December 23, 2011

SEWING VEST TUTE

This is (I hope) going to be a pictorial tutorial.(geeze, I'm such a poet) on how to make a sewing vest as posted on the quilting board around Christmas time.

1. Choose an old shirt pattern.  Size does not matter, as your are only going to use this as a guideline.

Lay your shirt pattern with shoulder seams together and draw a line as shown in red in picture.  I made the front pieces about 7 inches wide and cut it off right at the waistline.

If you want to save the original pattern, trace the new pattern on tissue paper.

You will need a little over half a yard of each fabric. 

I sandwiched my fabric with lightweight batting and practiced my FMQ by trying to outline the design on the printed fabric.

Cut your vest out according to your pattern and sew a 1/4 inch seam at the back neck.

I pressed the seam open then sewed a strip of fabic over it to creat a finished seam.

Decide how many and what size pockets you want and cut them out from left over quilted fabric.  I bound the edges of my pockets just like a little quilt.

Apply your pockets then bind the outer edge of your vest.  I added a couple of ties to help keep it in place.  The pincushion is just a stuffed yo-yo stitched to a gathered ruffle.  I also added a loop to hang glasses on and a loop to hang it on a hook when I'm finished for the day!

This is what it looks like when laid out flat on design wall.