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Quilted Toile Vest

Quilted Toile Vest

I have been admiring the latte quilts that everyone has been making lately, so I decided, for a little twist, to make a latte-inspired vest, with contrasting toile embroidery.

Supplies & Materials:

Supplies

  • Vest pattern, Butterick #5888 view C

  • 1 yard each of two off- white colored prints

  • Yardage according to pattern specs for lining and backing fabric

  • Light-weight quilt batting

  • 2 packages of piping to match your embroidery --or make your own.

  • 3 frog closures

Gather Materials:

To make the base quilt, I decided on 2 1/2" squares (with the 1/4" seam allowance, they end up to be 2" finished). I cut a whole bunch of squares out of each of the perfectly squared, off-white printed fabrics. After the squares were cut out, I sewed sets of 4 together, so that the like-fabrics were opposite each other. At this point, I got out the pattern, found the 2 pattern pieces needed for the vest, and cut them out on the cutting lines for the appropriate size. The pattern pieces would become the guide for how to lay out the squares that I had just made.


With the squares made, lay them out in rows, stacking them up, until you have the size and shape needed to fit the pattern piece. Repeat the process with each of the front pieces and the back piece. Stitch all of the squares together, matching the seams to form one large base piece. Trace around the pattern piece to make your cutting line for later. You will also use the marked lines to help you place your embroidery designs exactly where you want them.

Quilted fabric with a grid pattern on the left; brown paper sewing pattern piece with printed text and markings on the right, both laying on a flat surface.

Print out full-sized templates of the toile designs, and cut them out around the perimeter of each image. On the corner design, make sure that you include the center point in the cutout. (I forgot to do that, which made it more difficult to place that design according to the center point.)

Pieces of white fabric with grey toile prints depicting pastoral scenes, animals, and trees are cut out and laid on a beige fabric background with a faint vest pattern outline.

Now, place the design templates where you want them on the two front pieces. Consider how the designs relate to each other. Notice that I decided to use the large design in the foreground, and the smaller designs as background. This perspective worked out quite nicely. Don't forget to allow yourself the seam allowances at the edges of the pieces.

Several fabric pieces with gray toile floral and pastoral print are pinned and sewn on light beige fabric, including sections shaped like animals, plants, and people, arranged for quilting.

Once you have the designs where you want them, poke a small hole in the center of each template, and mark the design centers on your front and back pieces.

Flat fabric laid out and cut with a pattern pinned on top, marked with dark lines; small scattered pins; piece of toile-print fabric to the side.

Start Embroidering:

Sandwich a piece of batting between your vest pieces and a backing fabric to create a quilted piece.


Using your center markings, place and embroider each design through the 3 layers.


Often times you will find that the batting and fabrics together are stable enough to support the embroidery, so you may not need any stabilizer. 

Beige quilted fabric vest with blue toile embroidery depicting a house, trees, a woman, a dog, and floral patterns, laid flat on a surface with a spool of thread nearby.

After you have finished the embroidery, machine-quilt the spaces between the embroideries.

Piece of white fabric with printed blue toile embroidery patterns including a woman and man sitting on a picnic blanket, chickens, trees, flowers, and a paisley shape.

This is how the back piece turned out.

Quilted cream-colored fabric piece with blue toile embroidery of a house and trees in the center, surrounded by stitched leaf and geometric patterns.

After you have finished quilting, cut out the front and back pieces along your marked cutting lines.

Two fabric pieces with blue toile scenes on white background, showing pastoral images including people, animals, trees, and plants, laid flat on surface.

Cut out your lining pieces, which are the same as your front and back vest pieces. Join the back to the front quilted vest pieces along the side seams and repeat this for the lining front and back pieces.

Two quilted fabric pieces for a vest, one with blue toile embroidery including a woman, dog, cart, flowers, and birds; the other piece is plain white textured quilting.

Attach the piping to the edges of joined vest pieces: the entire outer edge, armholes, and the back neck.


Place the lining fabric on top of the quilted pieces, with the right sides together, and attach the lining with your zipper foot along the piping. I left the back neck open, so that it would be easier to turn the garment.

Partial view of a white quilted vest with blue toile embroidery depicting floral patterns, birds, and a horse-drawn carriage motif.

Turn the vest right side out, and press. Join the shoulder seams and stitch the lining at the back neck.


Attach the frogs to the front for a closure. I think that they add a beautiful accent to the vest.


Happy sewing,
Sarah

Quilted vest with blue toile print depicting rural scenes on a white background, black frog closures down the center, black piping along edges.