The Zipper Vest

Hello Readers. This vest was the simplest of projects, it might take longer to explain than it did to make. This idea came from @trashtocouture on Instagram. She posted about this little vest with zipper straps and gave directions on how to copy it.

It all started with this big men's t-shirt I had handy. My shirt was thick gray cotton. A lighter weight material would probably work out just as good if not better because it would hang nicer. My philosophy is always, use whatever you have on hand or can scrounge for free.

 

I cut the body off, right under the sleeves. And there is the jacket zipper I used too. This zipper had metal teeth which will look cool on the vest.

I cut the shirt open so I had a big rectangle. It was going to be a big loose vest. And the zipper is going to act as shoulder straps.

 (Any rectangle of knit fabric would work, it doesn't have to be a t-shirt.)

I turned the gray shirt upside down so the finished hem was at the top of my new vest. I placed the zipper so that the open ends of the zipper were sewn into the front seams. The closed end of the zipper is centered at the top of the back of the vest.

 

I had an idea for the hemline. It involved cutting up this skirt for spare parts. (I didn't really like this peasant skirt but it had nice trim.)

 

This cotton lace at the bottom would be nice at the bottom off my vest.

 

Here is my vest with it's zipper straps and all the raw edges folded in and stitched down. It is basically a big box.

 

Trim close-up #1

What should I wear with the vest? I had some really awful shorts. They were a soft black  knit material, but they were so long on me it was ridiculous!

 

 I cut them off and immediately panicked because they seemed too short. That's OK, I had the trim from that black skirt.

 

Remember this one? I cut off the cotton trim that divided the tiers of the skirt.

It was a great way to finish the legs of the shorts without turning them under and making them shorter.

Trim close-up #2

I thought if I put the shorts with  a black tank I already had, it would look a little like a one piece romper. 

And  it would be a good backdrop for my zipper vest.

Here is my vest at the farmers market. The prices were great and they gave my little guy a lollypop. It made his day. 

 

Thanks for reading along, and thanks to @trashtocouture for this idea. Her vest was a little different so you might want to check hers out.

***Year End update-  I still like this vest but @trashtocouture did a better job with hers, go check her out.