A few years ago, I started to play with quilting clothes. The first few pieces turned out less than ideal. I didn’t know the paths to avoid the foibles of quilting. But after a few playful experiments and failed garments, things started to fall into place. I’ve put together this tutorial to share the things I have learned in hopes that your quilted clothes can turn out better than mine.

To get started, here are some fun things:

– Don’t wash your fabric before starting. You’ll get extra amounts of those cozy quilted wrinkles if you leave it unwashed. It’s very fun!

– Size up one size. Depending on your fabric and batting, it may shrink up to one size after washing.

– If you don’t have a vest pattern in mind for this project, try the bodice of a shirt pattern you have on hand. Crop the bottom and trim an inch or two off of the front center. 

Materials

Fabric in this tutorial is FS Evergreen Softened Midweight Linen

Let’s jump in!

1. Using a shirt or vest pattern of your choice, cut out two back pieces and four front pieces.

2. Cut one back and two front pieces out of cotton batting. 

3. Sandwich the batting in between the fabric. 

4. Find the center of the back and draw a stitch guide line with chalk or an erasable pen.

For this tutorial, I’m using vertical lines spaced 1 1/2” (~4 cm) apart and diagonal lines spaced 1 1/2” (~4 cm) inches apart.

5. From the center line, mark 1 1/2” (~4 cm) spaces extending out on each side across the whole width of the back. 

Using your 1 1/2” (~4 cm) marks as guides, draw vertical stitch guide lines across the whole width of the back.

TIP: You don’t have to make a stitch guide line close to where the side seam will be. Just skip those outside lines close to the side seam edges. 

6. Draw a center diagonal stitch guide line across the back. You can use an exact 45 degree angle, or to make it easy, you can draw the line from corner to corner. 

7. From the center diagonal line, mark 1 1/2” (~4 cm) spaces extending out on each side. 

Again, using your 1 1/2” (~4 cm) marks as guides, draw diagonal stitch guide lines across the whole width of the back.

8. Repeat above steps to draw vertical stitch guide lines on the front pieces. To draw the diagonal  lines, place the front pieces next to the back piece and use a long ruler to extend the diagonal lines onto the front pieces. 

Time to sew!

9. Sew the center vertical stitch guide line first. Then sew the line next to the center. Always start in the center and work your way out to the sides. If you work your way in instead of out, you’ll likely end up with excess fabric trapped in the center that will cause puckering. 

TIP: With all these lines of stitching it’s easy for some of the layers of fabric to shift around, sometimes dramatically. To minimize shift, pull the top and bottom of the pieces tight with your hands and let the sewing machine do the work of pulling the fabric through at its own pace. This is effective at keeping all the layers in unison. 

10. When all the vertical lines are stitched, sew the diagonal lines. Start from one corner and work your way to the opposite corner. 

11. After quilting all three pieces, trim up any uneven places where the three layers aren’t aligned. If things shifted while sewing, no problem! Scissors to the rescue! 

12. Place the front pieces on the back piece with right sides together. Pin or clip in place. 

13. Sew shoulders and side seams together using desired seam allowance. 

TIP: At this point, it’s a fun idea to try on the vest to see if you want to make any last minute adjustments — maybe crop it a bit shorter, deepen the armholes, etc. Just remember it will shrink a little with the cotton batting after it’s washed. 

14. Cut some bias tape from your lovely linen. For this tutorial, I used 1 1/4” (~3 cm) wide bias tape. You may want to use wider if your batting is more lofty. 

15. Place the bias tape right side down along the shoulders and side seams. 

16. Sew bias tape onto shoulders and side seams using the same seam allowance or slightly greater than was used to sew the seam. 

17. Fold out the bias tape and press. Then fold the edge of the bias tape in halfway toward the exposed seam and press

18. If the seam feels cramped for space, trim off a bit of the seam allowance. Be careful not to accidentally cut into the freshly pressed bias tape! 

19. Fold the bias tape over the exposed seam and pin or clip in place. 

20. Sew along the edge of the bias tape. 

21. Sew a long length of bias tape strips together.

22. Place the right side of the bias tape on the wrong side of the vest. In other words, both the wrong side of the vest and the bias tape should be facing up toward you. Start at the bottom in the back and pin or clip the bias tape all the way around the perimeter. 

When you make it all the way around, trim the bias tape with just enough left over to sew the two ends together. 

23. Sew the ends of the bias tape together. Press seam open. 

24. Sew all the way around the perimeter of the vest. 

25. Fold out the bias tape and press. Then fold the edge of the bias tape in halfway toward the right side of the vest and press. 

26. Fold the bias tape over the exposed seam toward the right side of the vest and pin or clip in place. 

27. Sew along the edge of the bias tape all the way around the vest perimeter. 

28. Repeat steps 22-27 for sewing bias tape onto armholes. 

29. Cut two strips 12” (~30 cm) long and 1 1/4” (~3 cm) wide. 

30. Fold the two strips in fourths and sew along the edge. At one end, fold in the end for a clean finish. These will be the ties for the vest.

31. Try on the vest. Pin the unfinished ends of the ties right along your bust line. Pin them on the wrong side of the vest. 

32. Stitch the ties in place in the seam of the bias tape. 

33. Fold the ties toward the center and stitch in place along the outside edge of the bias tape. 

34. Wash and dry your vest. Those lovely wrinkle lines! It’s the joy of leaving your fabric unwashed before sewing. If you want even more wrinkle lines, you can move the stitched lines closer together.