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Sewing tips to make a waistcoat or vest

Kappuke-ki by Kappuke-ki

Making kids clothes is a great way to learn to sew...

The big advantage is that they are smaller, what with kids being smaller as well, and so you can finish a project quicker, which is most satisfying when starting out. As a child's body shape is simpler than an adults, no bust or hips to worry about, their clothes can be easier to finish, meaning you can concentrate on mastering some of the basics. The are also just so damn cute - both clothes and kids - that it's hard not to feel a warm glow of satisfaction when you have finished a little gem - and as they don't care much about fashion until they get older (although that threshold is rapidly getting lower) you don't get half so many niggles about what is or isn't on trend.
In this lens, I am going to show you how to make a waistcoat or vest (depending where you're from), and how you can line and 'bag' is out, giving a professional finish to the arm hole.
You'll need a basic waistcoat pattern - I'm not going to show you how to make the pattern here - but any basic waistcoat pattern will work fine for this. You can even take an old one apart and then copy round the pieces to replicate the pattern, if you find one you like.
Which ever you use, you will probably have two front pieces and two back pieces, and you need to cut one set in your top fabric ( the one you'll see on the outside) and one set in the lining. You can of course, have a different colour on the front and the back - but I am seeing this more as an everyday item, not an evening wear item where you'd normally see a satin back with a wool cloth front.

In my example, I've chosen a brown cotton drill, and some brown fleece. The fleece I will use as the lining, so the waistcoat is nice and warm.

Here's a picture of what I ended up with - my pattern has an asymmetrical front and it's fastened with a single button, the over lap adds extra warmth and it looks nice! I also chose to decorate it with some patches of pink fabric to brighten it up, I'll show you how to do this also. (If you order swatches from nice fabric companies and they send you some cure squares ready cut out to use - I think it's only fair that you do!)

I'm going to assume you're clever...

As you found this lens, so I'm going to assume that the first bit is easy enough that you don't need pictures. Join the center back seams on the top fabric and the lining, over lock, press them and then stitch them down. The join the front pieces to the back piece - remember to always put the right sides of the fabric together when you're putting this together, if you let confused later on, always remember - right sides together!
When you've got the top pieces together, this is when you can start applying the patches.
The ones I used were cut with pinking sheers, which give a zig-zag edge which also prevents fraying. If you'd rather, you can turn all the edges under, or even stitch two squares together (Right sides together) leaving one edge open. Clip the corners, and then turn the square inside out, so the good side is showing. Tuck the edges of the open edge inside, and press - you can then stitch the square to your waistcoat,
But I just used cut out squares - and tried to scatter them about randomly.

Now you got your backs and your fronts done...

Here it is, all clipped and ready!Put the two pieces right sides together (I'm going to shorten this to RSTog, because we've already established you're clever!)
Stitch the two armhole seams together - the right lining piece to the right top piece, and the left lining piece to the left top piece. Stitch the neck line also - if your vest has a gentle slope and not an obvious neck line, just stop half way down the front.
Over lock your seams, and then clip them - cut out little chunks up to but not through the seam line, the tighter the curve of your seam, the more clips you're gonna need to make it sit smoothly.

Turn, turn, turn!

Turn the waistcoat inside out, so that the right side with all the patches on it is showing. Although you will be putting the pieces RSTog to close up the rest of the seams bit by bit, you won't turn the waistcoat inside out again.
You should have nice smooth armhole shapes - if they look a little bit uneven, you may want to turn the waistcoat inside out again an do some more clipping.
Once you have the piece turned through, now would be a good time to give it a press. It would be really nice if you could top stitch the armhole and neck line now, while the piece was still flat - I thought that and so I did once, only to discover that's no such a good idea - so take it from me, you don't want to do that, however tempting!

Here comes the clever bit...

...this is where you are going to close up the side seams under the armhole. You can easily put the RSTog as half the garment is still mostly open, so match up the under arm points and put the two lining seams together, and the two top fabric seams together - you can see from the picture that you can sew it like it was one long seam. The top half of the seam in the picture is the fleece lining - you can see the label where I've stitched it in so it will end up on the inside of the garment - and the bottom half if the top fabric.
Stitch it up like this on both sides and over lock the seam - you'll need to clip the seam at the underarm point as there's a lot of thickness there where all the seams meet. Then, flip the pieces back down so the waist coat is the right way round again.

This is the side seam...

...it's easy to flip it down..

...and there you go - magic - armhole beautifully finished!

If you want to...

..and I did..

...you can place another patch on the right side of the garment, and because the lining is still loose along the bottom edge, you can push it out of the way so you can stitch the patch on without the stitching showing through on the lining. As the side seam is now finished, you can place the patch over the seam, which always looks nice!

Closing up - the end is nigh...

Now you're going to close up the last remaining seam. This again can be confusing, but remember the golden rule that you have to put RSTog!
You don't turn the garment inside out, but you flip the seams at one end so that the right sides comes together and you can stitch along a sif you had turned the garment inside out. Match up your side and center back seams - I would pin these are first to help get the idea straight in your head, and sew along. You'll find that it starts to look like you are sewing inside a bag - which is where the term 'bagging out' comes from.

...keep going...

...but not all the way...

...I usually sew past the first side seam, the center back seam and a few centimeters past the second side seam. It's probably best to over lock these seams before you start putting them together, but don't worry to much if, like me, you haven't, because you can over lock most of it and you'll be top stitching everything anyway.

When you've that...

...turn the seam you've done the right way round. You're going to do the same thing starting from the other end, flipping the garment round on itself and sew as far as you can - you'll find you can't sew all the way along as the hole you're working through will get too small - but that's fine. When you can sew no more, pull the corner back round the right way - the seam will just be open a few centimeters.

Final stages...

You're going to top stitch the edges, and to close up the gap your left, tuck the seam allowance up inside and pin it down - I always find that the lining will be a bit bigger than the top fabric, especially when using fleece, so ease the excess along the gap as evenly as possible.
Top stitch from the top side, about 3 mm from the edge, being careful to not sew over the pins.

Final touch...

..stitch the armhole - you can do it now no problem, and it finishes off the garment nicely.

And you're done!

Well...

...you've got to do the buttons or press studs, but hey, you know what I mean!

If you want to see more of my designs...

Here's a link to my website!
Kappuke-ki Kidswear Ltd
Here I have both handmade clothes and clothes made in a fair trade factory from organic cotton for sale, all my own design.

Great Stuff on Amazon

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If you'd like to see more of my children's clothing, please visit my website www.kappuke-ki-kidswear.co.uk - and say hi if you do!

  • gonzalezdenise Sep 5, 2011 @ 8:08 pm | delete
    Great lens, very creative.
  • agoofyidea Sep 5, 2011 @ 2:38 pm | delete
    Great lens. Such a cut vest. Kids clothes are easier to make then adult clothes, but I do like making creative vests.
  • lemonsqueezy Sep 5, 2011 @ 11:54 am | delete
    Great lens. I need a tutorial on a replica vest for Jake of Jake and the Never Land Pirates.
  • DinosaurEgg Sep 5, 2011 @ 1:16 am | delete
    That waistcoat is gorgeous. I haven't sewed since I was at school. I'd love to find time to have a go.
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Some other ideas....

...to try!

I make this pocket, by placing two circles of fabric with the wrong sides together. I then stitch them close to the edge, and then finish the edge with some pretty binding. It's very hard to turn or bag out a circle, so I find this is a great way to create a neat round pocket.

I make this pocket, by placing two circles of fabric with the wrong sides together. I then stitch them close to the edge, and then finish the edge with some pretty binding. It's very hard to turn or bag out a circle, so I find this is a great way to create a neat round pocket.

I make this pocket, by placing two circles of fabric with the wrong sides together. I then stitch them close to the edge, and then finish the edge with some pretty binding. It's very hard to turn or bag out a circle, so I find this is a great way to create a neat round pocket.
I stitch the pocket to the waist coat - first on the outside edge of the binding, and then inside the binding on the pocket - when using the fleece for padding, I like to stitch with quite a wide seam as it makes a satisfying detail.
If you want, you can put the armholes and the side seams together as described above, but you can stitch the edges together with out flipping them round, and then finish the neckline and side seams with binding to match the pocket.
You can have fun stitching through the finished layers, this adds a quilting affect.
I like wiggles, and it's fun to squiggle them round the pocket...
...and all over the back. Enjoy!

This So Crafty page written by

Kappuke-ki

Hello!
I'm a keen cook and baker, and I design and make children's clothes, as well as write.
If you'd like to see my kids clothes, you can find the... more »

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