If you’d like a more structured vest, you can use an old-button down shirt instead of a T-shirt. Keep in mind that this vest would also have a folded collar. You can use a T-shirt with a V-neck or rounded crew neck depending on the look you want for your vest.
If you don’t want the vest to be narrow across the shoulders, don’t cut a large armhole. Instead, just cut the sleeves off, but leave the seams in place.
If you’re concerned that the fabric will move around on you while you’re cutting through the sleeves, pin them in place with safety or sewing pins.
Your T-shirt should now look like a loose vest.
For a more professional look, you can use a sewing machine to hem the edges that you cut. To decorate your vest, even more, add fabric paint embellishments or iron-on patches to give the vest a little personality.
Since you’re folding this fabric before you cut it, you’ll need to keep it twice as long as you want the vest once you fold it.
Your fabric should now look like a rectangle.
You can mark on the fabric with chalk or washable marker.
Your fabric should now look like a vest and you can try it on.
For example, you might find a stylish waistcoat vest for men or a pattern for a simple infant vest.
You’ll probably need to cut out 1 to 3 pieces for a basic vest.
If you’re making a simple vest, you might have 1 pattern piece that you cut for the front and back of the vest. You may want to pin the fabric in place to keep it from moving around as you work.
For the front pieces, you won’t cut on the fold since you’ll need 2 smaller fabric pieces.
If you’re using felt, it doesn’t matter which side you lay up or down since the fabric is the same on both sides.
To secure your stitches, it’s a good idea to make a few forward and back stitches when you start sewing.
To give your vest a professional look, consider hemming the raw edges of the fabric. Keep in mind that you don’t need to do this if you used fleece.
