Step One

Begin by gathering your supplies and choosing a favorite sweatshirt pattern with a cowl neck.  I recommend the HALIFAX HOODIE from Hey June Handmade, which is what I used.

Step Two

Trace the pattern pieces for the sweatshirt BACK, FRONT AND COWL neck in your size. (Note: if you are in between sizes, use the larger size as your vest will have less stretch than standard sweatshirt material).

Take the FRONT pattern piece and measure across the chest from the center seam.  Divide that measurement in half and subtract one inch.  On a separate piece of paper take the FRONT pattern piece and re-trace it adding the number you came up with to the center seam of the sweatshirt.  This creates the overlapping portions of the vest front.

Step Three

Take the COWL neck pattern piece and add twice the amount as you did the front piece to the SHORT end of the cowl that is NOT cut on a fold.  (Ignore the fold line that exists on the long end because you are creating a vest lining instead of a fold over.)

Step Five

PREPARATION:

Cut 1/2″ from every edge of the COWL shaped piece of Structure interfacing.  This ensure that your cowl stands up straight into a funnel neck but doesn’t add excessive bulk in the seams. Adhere the Structure interfacing to wrong side of the wool suiting fabric of the Cowl as the instructions indicate.

Place the two layers of wool batting for the COWL on top of each other and then place the interfaced wool on top of that (right sides up).  Pin with safety pins all over, just as you would with a quilt.

Repeat the same thing with the BACK. (Place both layers of wool batting on top of each other and place the wool suiting on top of that.)  Pin, just as you would a quilt.

Do the same for the two FRONT pieces.

Step Six

QUILTING:

Always beginning at the bottom hem, quilt all pieces of the jacket with even 1 and 1/2″ lines.  You will have the most success using a walking foot on your sewing machine although it isn’t necessary.

Tip: To help maintain even lines of quilting you can either use a quilting attachment or place a piece of washi tape on your machine, evenly spaced, after each stitch so you have an easy visual to follow.

Step Seven

Once you have quilted all of your pieces, you may need to trim off any excessive quilt batting that exposed itself.

Step Eight

Sew, with a 3/8″ seam allowance, the FRONT pieces to the BACK at the shoulder and side seams.

Step Nine

To attach the COWL neck to the neckline begin by pinning the midpoint of the cowl (where the fold line was) to the midpoint of the BACK. Continue to pin along the neckline from that midway point around to the front of the vest.

Sew in place with a 3/8″ seam allowance.  There may be extra COWL fabric at the front and that’s ok.  Just trim it flush with the front.

Step Ten

CREATE THE LINING:

Before you repeat the above steps with the lining fabric you will want to trim off a small amount (around 1/16″ of an inch) from the edges. DO NOT TRIM TOO MUCH! You want to lining to be just a smudge smaller so that your wool seams roll just a wee bit to the inside of the vest.

Once you have done your trimming create the lining just as you create the wool portion of the vest…sew the shoulder seams and side seams and attach the cowl.

Step Eleven

Adhere the strips of Stabilize interfacing the WRONG side of the FRONT pieces, about 1″ inch in from the center.  This will help to strengthen the fabric when you use the snaps to open and close the vest.

Tip: You don’t have to have one long strip of interfacing. You can save by fusing two different pieces. It will do the same job!

Step Twelve

PUTTING IT TOGETHER:

Pin the RIGHT SIDE of the lining to the RIGHT SIDE of the quilted wool outer along the top, front sides and bottom hem, leaving a 9″ opening along the bottom hem.

You can put a few pins in the armholes at this point, just to be sure they are properly aligned with everything else, but you are not sewing them shut.

Sew, using a 3/8″ seam allowance, along the top, sides and bottom leaving the bottom opening unsewn.

Step Thirteen

Trim all the corners to reduce bulk.

Turn everything right sides out and use your hands to give it shape. You will find it helpful to use a chopstick tool to be sure  the corners are fully turned right sides out.

You should see the lining naturally move toward the inside of the vest but press with an iron to help it along.

Step Fourteen

Pin the armholes and baste stitch them together.

Step Fifteen

CREATE ARMHOLE BIAS BINDING:

(This is a quick overview of how to create an armhole bias binding but for a more thorough look check out this step by step tutorial: https://oliverands.com/community/blog/2014/03/bias-binding-tutorial.html)

Cut a length of single-fold bias tape that is approximately 4 inches longer than the length of the armhole.

Begin by unfolding the single fold bias tape and pinning one end to the RIGHT SIDE of the armhole. Begin pinning by creating a 1/2″ fold around 1 and 1/2″ from the side seam and stop pinning 1 and 1/2″ from it on the other end.

Stitch at 3/8″ (sew across the starting fold) around the armhole starting at stopping when your pins end.  Using the open end, pin it across the original folded portion to continue the final stitch.  Trim any excess fabric.

Fold the entire bias tape over the other side and pin in place such that no bias tape is visible from the front.

Step Sixteen

Sew, on the wool side, at 4/8″ seam allowance and then follow with a topstitch at the edge of the armhole.

Step Seventeen

ATTACHING SNAPS:

All that is left to do is attached our beautiful snaps.

This seems like it would be harder to do than it really is and nothing elevates a handmade wardrobe like a little hardware!

Start by gathering your heavy duty snap pliers and snaps. The snap pliers come with replacement heads that can do everything from creating holes to attaching the snaps. Personally, I found it easier to create my own holes (to insert the snaps into) with a fabric hole punch I have so I used that.  But, you do not need to have that! The pliers can do it all. I just didn’t like having to change the head all the time.

Step Eighteen

Start by marking placement for all 7 snaps on the wearer’s right side.

Place all the snaps an even 3/4″ from the edge of the center of the vest. The top snap should be 1 and 1/2″ from the top and the bottom should be 1 and 1/2″ from the bottom.

All others should be an even 3 and 1/2″ distance from each other.

Step Nineteen

Once you have marked the proper placement, use the plier or fabric hole punch to create a hole all the way through in each spot.

Step Twenty

Place the brass flat end cap through the hole to the cotton side and lay the socket portion on top. Use the pliers with the BLACK CAP attachment and the METAL SPLITTING punch to set it in place. Place the brass post inside the Black Cap attachment and align the metal splitting punch with the socket (placed as pictured) and squeeze.

Repeat for all seven snaps on the wearer’s right side of the vest.

Step Twenty-one

Using the right-hand side snaps as a guide, determine where the snap attachments should be on the left hand side.  You will probably need to try on the jacket in order to do this.  Be sure you get a nice snug fit that also feels comfortable. You might want to leave it a little loose if you plan to wear bulky sweaters underneath, for example.

On me, this is about 3″ in from the center flap of the vest.

Step Twenty-two

Use either a fabric hole punch or the snap pliers to create holes in each indicated spot.

Place the PURPLE POST holder and METAL SPLITTING punch on the pliers.  Place the CAP through to the wool side from the cotton chambray side (lining) and place the STUD over it.

Fold the excess fabric into a roll so that the pliers can reach and place the CAP into the purple post and the metal splitting punch onto the STUD. Press the pliers firmly to be sure you get the snap in place.

Repeat for all seven snaps.

Step Twenty-three

Your beautiful, toasty warm funnel neck vest is ready to keep you warm outside!