Floral Vest - more info

Judy said my vest looked like the class she took several years ago based on Rosemary Eichorn's style.

Well, the vest pattern is a Rosemary Eichorn pattern, Vest #101, that has been discontinued, although she does have another that is quite similar. While I did follow the pattern instructions for the assembly, it was not done in her collage technique, other than the darker green fern fabric. After cutting out my vest, I covered it with paper and sketched the flowers where I wanted, and then used my pattern to applique all the flowers in place. Of course, since I used myoriginal pattern, I no longer have it, so have re-drawn the flowers from a combination of tracing from a photograph of my vest, making some small adjustments as I went to create new patterns. The butterfly was created with patterns cut from a fabric that looked like overlapping parts of butterfly wings. I collaged the parts together, and then cut a litle body out. Most of the beading was done by hand, but the flower centers with large beads were sewn by machine.

Looking back, I wish I had pieced the lining before the vest was cut out and appliqued, but her technique for finishing the shoulder seam and edges worked like a charm! The vest can be worn reversed, and as you can see it is quite different. The front closure is a large, handmade frog that is on the inside, and both sides have large, coordinating glass buttons.