Puperita: Quilted Faux Leather Dragon Vest
After I finished my quilted faux leather vest, I had fabric left over (of course), and I instantly thought matching vest for JJ (my niece). The vest honestly should have been done in December, but I was trying to avoid a pattern purchase. I knew I could draft a vest pattern for her but finally decided against it because I've been sewing on a time crunch. My search for a good vest pattern started with the big four companies, but of course, that fizzled out. So I made my way over to Etsy’s marketplace and searched for a vest pattern, and as always the marketplace came through. I went with Puperita Dragon Vest pattern because of the simple design and the great reviews.
Based on my niece's measurements, I cut the size 18 months, but I think I could have gotten away with the 2T. The instructions for this pattern are simple and straight forward, and a photo accompanies each step. I made no adjustments to this pattern, except quilting the faux leather of course. To make her vest I used faux leather, warm and white cotton batting, coordinating quilting cotton, ponte knit, and blizzard fleece. I did not quilt the hood because I felt like three layers would make it stiff, and I did not line the hood with fleece because I knew it would only cause her hair to frizz. Except for the faux leather, all of the material used to make this was purchased at JoAnn. The faux leather is from Mood Fabrics. In addition to the faux leather and quilting cotton, I choose the warm and white cotton batting because of its lightweight, and the additional warmth for those windy mornings. After I finished quilting the front and back pieces, I followed the pattern instructions word for word to make the vest.
The only obvious error I made was not using a coordinating thread to finish the topstitching on the bottom band, other than that the vest looks great (yep, tooting my own horn). I think this pattern is a great fabric scrap stash buster because you can easily use two to three different types of fabrics ( in my case four!) to get a nice vest. I like that this vest can be layered with a long sleeve shirt or sweatshirt, depending on the temperature and still keep her warm. The faux leather is also easy to wipe off, and anyone who has seen a toddler snack in the car knows how easily coats and jackets can be stained if you hit one bump. With that being said, if you are interested in seeing what the quilting process looks like, I will be uploading a video on my IGTV, which I recorded while making this vest. It won’t be a sew-along, but I hope that it inspires you to tackle a new sewing challenge. Until next time, happy sewing!
