Back at the beginning of last fall I made a present for a friend who was turning five. He is a super cute boy who loves to dress well and to dress-up, so Oliver + S’ Explorer Vest seemed to be a perfect match. The project comes from Liesl Gibson’s Little Things to Sew , and it was a great project to work on: challenging enough for me to keep things interesting without it being overwhelming.
The pattern has an option for pockets with or without bellows. I thought the bellows looked more explorer-like, so I went with those, but it was hard for me to figure out exactly how to make them!
Still, I prevailed! And the vest did look adorable. Once I had that part figured out, the rest of the vest came together pretty quickly.
The fabric is a canvas weight from Jo-Ann. To add interest, I added topstitching in contrasting brown. I need more practice, as you can see 😉
I also used contrasting bias tape to finish the armholes.
My least favorite part was the argyle pattern I used as lining. I loved the color palette, and it was the most boyish fabric I could find at the moment, but I am not convinced it was the right fit for this pattern. Despite that, I was pleased with how it turned out, and our friend was happy with it too.
Here are a couple of shots of how we wrapped it. We rolled it up and covered it in tissue paper, like a candy roll. Then I drew a picture of the birthday boy for my daughter to color, and voilà!
It was a fun present to work on, and a fun pattern. If anybody needs any guidance on working with the bellows pocket, I took step-by-step shots while I was sewing and I could put them together in a post.
Linking at:
Nap time crafters
