How to make...A faux fur vest

July 29, 2013

I made this faux fur vest a month ago as part of Juliette's Secret Squirrel outfit - and remember,
Secret Squirrel is nearly ready to say hello again...check back here or at StraightGrain to find out where he travels to next - on August 1st! SUBSCRIBE TO SEWPONY HERE FOR MORE PATTERN INSPIRATION.
I hoped to post a tutorial on how I made it soon after, but my pattern took over and the tutorial got put on the back burner.  So now that my pattern is finished, I have had time to put this together and hope you like it! (It took me a while with super slow internet at the moment...Grrr...Vodafone!!)
I love this vest.  It is so soft and cosy.  I bought the faux fur from GJ's Fabric in Brunswick, Melbourne.  It is acrylic but really soft.  It was about $27 per metre from memory, but luckily I only needed 30cm (it was 150cm wide bolt) to make a little vest for Juliette.  I wanted my vest to not quite meet in the middle (front), so I have written up the tutorial for such a vest.

You will need:
  • Faux fur - I only needed 30cm to fit my three year old
  • Lining fabric - the same amount as fur
  • Paper and a texta
  • A t-shirt for tracing
  • General sewing supplies, including a heavier duty sewing needle - I managed with one suitable for sewing denim
Garment construction:

NB: If you use your iron close to your fur, it will singe!! So take care when pressing lining (or just don't worry about pressing ironing to be safe!
Firstly, begin by choosing a reasonably fitted t-shirt that fits your child.
1. Turn your T-shirt inside out and fold down the centre and trace around your T-shirt -  lining up with the vertical edge of your paper.  Add seam allowance.  *I did not add seam allowance to the hem as I wanted my vest to be cropped, rather than long. 
2. Lay paper over your traced back piece and draw a front piece - I lowered the front neckline by 3 cm.  You will see I also shortened the hemline of the back (and so also the front) by 3cm.
3. Create a curve at the top and bottom of your centre front.  I used a French curve, but you can just draw this freehand.
4. Cut out your pattern pieces.
*You will not be able to cut your fur on the fold, so cutting of the fur is a little unconventional.

5. Place your front piece on your fur (wrong side) with pile facing downward. Trace with texta.
6. Flip front piece over and trace your second front.
7. Place your back piece on the fur and trace as you did for front.
8. Flip pattern piece directly over without leaving a gap so you can complete tracing the other half of your back piece.
9.  Cut out your fur pieces.  When cutting, carefully cut the weave of the fur and not the pile.  You can achieve this by using sharp scissors and holding the blades close to the weave.  By not cutting the fur, you will not end up with blunted edges and seams. 

Your fur pieces will look like this: 
 10. Cut out your corresponding lining pieces: 

11. With right sides together, sew your shoulder seams (forgot to take pic of sewing fur shoulder seams together, but I think you can work that out!  Just try to push the fur out of the way of the seams as you sew).  For lining - press seams open as shown.
12. With right sides together, sew fur and lining together as indicated by aqua line.
13. Sew arm hole curves on both sides as shown.
14. Turn your vest right side out: Reach up into vest from back and pull front through to back.  Repeat for opposite front. 
15: Sew side seams: you will be able to pin the lining, but it is too awkward to pin the fur.  Sew up along lining and then along fur as shown below. 
 17: Continuing with vest inside out, sew hem, leaving a gap on one side to turn your vest right side out.

18: Turn vest right side out through gap and hand stitch gap shut.  Turn both the lining and fur edges under as you sew. 

And you are finished:) 
 I would love to hear if you use this tutorial to make a vest.  Just leave a comment and I will come and have a look!!

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19 comments

  1. UnknownJuly 29, 2013 at 11:51 PM

    Awesome vest!! I linked to your tutorial over at Craft Gossip:
    http://sewing.craftgossip.com/tutorial-childs-faux-fur-vest/2013/07/29/

    --Anne

    ReplyDelete
  2. SuzJuly 30, 2013 at 7:09 AM

    Oh thank you Anne!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. LauraJuly 30, 2013 at 7:25 AM

    I love this vest! It reminds me of the movie Almost Famous. Great tutorial too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. SuzJuly 30, 2013 at 7:38 AM

      Thanks Laura! I haven't seen the movie buy will have to check it out!

      Delete
  4. KatieJuly 31, 2013 at 4:33 PM

    Oh that's lovely! I'm adding that to my 'make for Christmas gifts' list. I know a little girl who will LOVE it!

    ReplyDelete
  5. adelafgAugust 29, 2013 at 11:28 PM

    Chulisimo , yo el año pasado me hice uno igual mpero en negro y para mi pero creo que ese es aun mas lindo

    ReplyDelete
  6. SabineNovember 23, 2013 at 9:13 AM

    Dear Suz,
    I'm so glad I found your fantastic tutorial on your wonderful blog :-) as I wanted to spend on the fake fur fabric for my twin girls rather than on a sewing pattern. I wonder if I would get along with 30 cm for each girl like you did. They measure 102 cm in height now. Your Juliette looks like a similar size on the photo.

    ReplyDelete
  7. MusankJanuary 12, 2014 at 6:01 AM

    Lovely vest!! She looks so happy wearing it too, so great job =D

    One question, when you sew the seams with the sewing machine, which stitch (straight, slanted, zig-zag, etc) did you use?

    Thank you!
    Musank

    ReplyDelete
  8. AnonymousMarch 30, 2014 at 4:43 PM

    Thank you for this tutorial! I used it to make a vest for my girl. I am a beginner but it turned out wonderful!!! Thank you once again for sharing!

    Anna

    ReplyDelete
  9. SydneyOctober 1, 2014 at 2:55 AM

    Loved this tutorial! Super easy to follow, I made my daughter a fur vest and linked to your tutorial on my blog.

    http://sewsydney.blogspot.ca/2014/09/diy-faux-fur-vest.html

    Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  10. MicheleNovember 12, 2014 at 4:58 AM

    This is a great and very easy to follow tutorial. I made a faux fur vest for my friend's 11 year old daughter and she loves it. Mine was slightly shorter as she wanted it as a bolero style. I am so pleased with how it turned out. Thank you so much for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
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  12. TraceyApril 13, 2015 at 8:58 AM

    Thanks for the tutorial! I followed it to make a vest for a 1yo - few challenges turning it right side out because it was little (I didn't want to turn it back again, so hand stitched the hem), but it's a hit.

    ReplyDelete
  13. KristMay 27, 2015 at 9:14 PM

    Thank you for your tutorial. I do not have much sewing experience, but your instructions were very easy to follow. I just finished my fur vest. It looks great and fits perfectly!

    ReplyDelete
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