Making a vest

Old pyjama trousers

My sewing skills are still very amateur which is why I hate to purchase fabric but have no hesitation in re-purposing old clothes. These are an old pair of pyjama trousers that were so comfy that I continued to wear them long past their sell by date. Whilst some of the fabric was only fit for the compost much of it was still in reasonable condition.

Cutting out the body

Vests are a staple in my wardrobe, they help me to get through winter without needing too much extra heating. I prefer the camisole style to a traditional vest. In the above photo you can see my favourite, a soft grey top that includes a little hidden support. Vests are generally pretty cheap to purchase but it occurred to me that these are also useful little items to improve sewing skills as they are not often worn to be seen.

Nearly complete vest

So here it is, my completed cami cut using my favourite top as a pattern. Only problem is that it doesn't fit (hence why you can see a few unfinished threads in the picture). Why? Well, I forgot something pretty simple. Whilst it is a knit fabric it doesn't have anything like the stretch of my top. I knew this and was going to add a couple of inches to the width to counter this but I forgot. So I have a lovely little top to add to my 'one day' pile. Hmm.

I am going to try again. I enjoyed this sew, it was fairly quick with much of the sewing completed on my overlocker. I'm going to have to keep my eyes open for more fabric, I suspect that the next one may be made from a patchwork of my sons old tops. Time to clear out his drawers!