While I have been designing the Women’s Hero Vest, I have been collecting images of cool vests and ways to style them. Sometimes I know that I find it had to know what is going to look good when trying to decide upon a fabric for a new sewing project. I’m not actually good at visualising a finished product before it is actually finished, which can sometimes result in a project that I’m not 100% happy with.
Over time, I have learned a few tricks though to make fabric selection easier. If I already have a fabric in mind for a project, I will usually do some searches for that particular fabric on google, pinterest, kollobora, flickr, etc. and see what other people have made out of the fabric already. This always helps me as I can see what the fabric looks like in particular garments and if contrast fabric, trims or other details have been added it can sometimes help to spark an idea or combination of my own.
If I have a pattern in mind and am not sure of what fabric to use though, I sometimes find it helpful to collect images of that particular style of pattern (in this case, a women’s vest) and what kind of fabric look good and how people style them. Even though all of the vests below are store-bought, it can still help you to decide on what fabric you might like your vest to be made from.
I’m particularly loving the outfits below with lots of layering going on…button-up collared shirts, jumpers, chunky necklaces finished off with a vest. An outfit combination that I probably wouldn’t have put together on my own but looks great when I can see a completed outfit compiled like this.
It seems that solid fabrics with a contrast trim, stripes, polka dots and herringbone patterns have caught my eye over the last few weeks, but I have seen a few awesome vests made up using bold prints and patterns and they are also a lot of fun. It all depends on your own personal taste and style and how you want to wear your finished vest – which is the coolest thing about sewing your own clothing – you can take one pattern and make it two or three times, each one looking totally unique to the others!
Hopefully these images give you a bit of inspiration for sewing the Women’s Hero Vest – can’t wait to see what fabric and styling combinations you come up with!
(All image sources can be found on my Women’s Hero Vest pinterest board.)
