For the 52 Week Sewing Challenge – Week 3, the challenge was to sew a pattern you owned but had not sewn up yet. I had downloaded the free Bell Town Vest from Straight Stitch Designs at least a year ago. It was also the pattern I had planned to use for my furry vest Make Nine.
Two birds with one stone!
First off, when cutting out fur, you can’t cut anything on the fold. You need to slide your scissors along the edge so you aren’t cutting off the fur when you cut it out.
You will still end up cutting some fur, but most of it will be fine. Shake it out outside if you don’t have -10 degree windchills. Or if you are like me…shake it out in your sewing room, don’t vacuum it up right away and then your black cat lays in the middle of it and has fake fur all over him!
I decided to add some leather ties to the front of the vest in case I wanted it closed and not loose and open.
I have lots of leather scraps, so I just cut some ties from some pieces.
I placed them carefully and made sure they didn’t shift when sewing up the vest.
Another tip when sewing up fur is to use a longer stitch length, as you will need to pull the fur out of the seams after sewing it up. I use the end of my seam ripper to pull the fur out.
This is a pretty box fit. It is hard to put darts in fur. I sewed up the size 12. A size 14 would have fit better, but at the time I downloaded it I was a 12. Not so now!
This vest is the first one to check off of the 2019 Make Nine list I have. So far I am on track for the year…hopefully I can keep it going!
