As I mentioned in my last post, I've been working on Heidi Emmett's Off The Grid Vest. In the beginning I was nervous because I'm not a quilter. After the first hour or so I just went with my gut and forged ahead.
My sewing style isn't one that lends itself to perfection. I'm incapable of sewing straight, I love raw edges and I don't care when everything isn't quite perfect.
It's the overall look I go for. The feel of a garment. And to be honest, I change my style so often that I wear a piece of clothing for 1-5 years, tire of it and sell it at a garage sale. It makes no difference if I've spent days or hours on it, when I'm done-I'm done. My style changes yearly and so do my clothes.
All that said, I loved working on this vest. It has so many things going for it. Simple lines mean you can focus on the fabrics which I love. I used Moda Grunge cotton for the base fabric. It's black with washes of pinky grey.
I've had a huge stash of vintage kimono scraps since our trip to Japan about 10 years ago. Although I've been using them in projects for years I still have lots. So I decided this was a good project for that. The pattern calls for quilting cottons and the main fibers in my kimono collection are silk and rayon...much less stable.
Although Heidi recommends using Terial Magic, a kind of starch that quilters use, it still didn't provide all of the sturdiness I needed for this project. But I forged ahead with a somewhat wonky result. But I like it anyway!
I think this style qualifies as a tabard, right? The sides are held together with just one button. One of the reasons I wanted to make this vest is that I tried it on at a retreat in April and it's VERY flattering. In fact, it was flattering on every single woman who tried it on.
I had a devil of a time figuring out what binding to use. I wanted something that would remind me of a light summer suit that I would see on a businessman in Tokyo. A tiny grey on darker grey pattern that read solid from far away. Understated but elegant. Couldn't find it. Finally I went with a purple quilting cotton that has a tiny pattern. But I wasn't happy so I picked up another couple of fat quarters at The Stitching Post in Sisters, Oregon. One of them I incorporated into the blocks but I didn't think either would work on the bias trim.
Luckily, I also picked up a bottle of Jacquard Pewter Dye-Na-Flow. It's kind of like India Ink for clothing. I thought if I knocked back the purple it might blend in so I painted that on the bias strips. It came out very uneven but when I folded them in half and laid them under the garment edges to audition the color it worked.
I found two 30's deco buttons in my stash that felt right...finally had buttons that actually worked on a garment. Somehow, with hundreds of buttons in my collection none seem to be right!
This vest is a very dramatic look. I can't wait to wear it. Joe says I look like a warrior!
