Becca's Crazy Projects: Quilted Vest

Wednesday, February 23, 2022

Quilted Vest

I keep seeing people and their amazing quilt coats made from quilts. Sometimes the panels are designed and quilted instead of being cut from a quilt. Either way, the results really speak to me. Like all things creative there is some discomfort for some people about cutting up a serviceable quilt to make a coat. I'm sure people have their reasons. I'll point out an exchange I had with my darling husband to illustrate.

While discussing the issue, I said to a friend "They don't realize how many quilts I have."

"No one does." Added my husband.

And that is mostly true. I could count them. But I would rather make more quilts. And that is where we run into the idea that there is nothing wrong with cutting up a perfectly good quilt, or making quilted pieces, and constructing a coat, or vest, or pot holders, or whatever you fancy. Many people quilt for the love of quilts, and their construction. Not all of these quilts will make it into a museum, and many won't. Some will be used and loved until they fall apart (this is what I hope for every quilt I make). Some will hide away in the closet for... I'm not sure what. Perhaps they wait for my inevitable demise. I hope when that happens, if I still have quilts, everyone that comes to remember me takes one away with them. And uses it until it is in tatters. For every quilt deserves to be loved like that. Loved to bits.

For my first quilted garment, I decided to quilt up a solid fabric using a great edge-to-edge design called Gridlock from Longarm League. I bought this design to finish my Assemble! quilt and I liked it so much I thought it would be perfect for this gray fabric.

I used some leftover blue flannel I had hanging around for the other side. I also used up a bunch of bobbins with mostly matching thread while keeping the top thread constant throughout.

I used a great free quilted vest pattern from Purl Soho to cut my vest. I lengthened the front hem a little to make the bottom hem even all the way across. Squaring corners is easier for me than those curves.

Here are my pieces. I chose a dark purple with cross-hatching to make my bias binding.

It was a slow assembly process. Meaning I would sew a little and then move on to other things until the following week.

I finished up all the edges with my overlocker/serger before assembly.

I mostly wanted to keep the mess down while I worked and to have the inside edges clean so I didn't have to apply binding to them.

I was not looking forward to finishing the arm holes.

In the end they weren't so bad. Maybe not perfect but finished.

There was some wrestling of the vest but it turned out much more neatly than I expected.

I added the label and sent it through the wash.

I'm almost embarrassed to show it now that it has been washed. Of course it will need to be washed at some point. On the other hand. I like the crinkly quilt look. It also softened up nicely. I'm sure a couple more trips through the wash will make it even more snuggly.