5 Ideas to Make a Winter Vest -- Sew, No Sew and Upcycle Projects (VIDEO)

If you search for videos about how to make a winter coat, you’ll find plenty. But finding instructions for making a winter vest is a little harder. And sometimes you don’t need a full coat. The weather in the fall and early spring often only requires a well-made vest. On some chilly days, though, you need layer a coat and a vest to stay extra toasty. The projects collected here range from a reversible puffer jacket, to a cozy fleece jacket and styling upcycled fake fur vest.

Reversible Puffer Jacket

A puffer vest seems like one of those outerwear items that would be almost impossible to sew yourself. Dami Adenaike from SewAddicts demonstrates that it’s very doable, using about $20 of sport utility fabric and fleece interfacing. She also has a separate video in which she shows how to create the pattern for the vest.

Quilted Vest Tutorial

For anyone who likes the look and weight of a quilted vest, Elizabeth from the site Elizabeth Made This has great tips and suggestions. Her vest helped her win the “So You Think You Can Sew” competition. But don't expect step by step instructions. Elizabeth's tips can apply to numerous patterns and approaches. She used an unstructured pattern, a choice she recommends for a quilted piece of clothing since the laters and sewing will eventually tighten up the fit. If you want to some style inspiration, check out the fittings of these Gilet jackets.

Hand Sewn Fake Fur Vest

The Unfrumpy Mommy creates her pattern for a winter vest by tracing a similar one from her closet. After you’re finished cutting out the pieces (the project requires a little under two yards of fabric), much of the work is done. Hand-sewing them together will take a little time, so you may want to watch a little TV while stitching everything together. A sewing machine would also make quick work of this project, likely taking 15 minutes or less.

Children's Fleece Vest

If you have a child who’s very specific about what he or she will wear you may want to just sew a personalized vest. Marzi, creator of Made by Marzipan, shares the fleece vest patterns in two sizes on her site 2-3T and 4-5T. Her instructions have a lot of detail about how to cut, pin and machine sew the segments of the vest, making the project steps very clear. The vest’s Velcro closures enable many children to dress themselves with it.

Upcycled Fake Fur Vest

Ally from Fashion by Ally outlines one of the easiest ways to make your own fake fur vest: upcycle a fake fur throw blanket. After tracing the pattern from an existing vest, she cuts out the needed material from the throw. Then she hems up the raw edges, which can be done either by hand-sewing or with hemming glue. Not sure what to do with the extra material? Ally also explains how to make a fake fur pom-pom with the leftovers.