Hello there! I had in mind this month to make a project for my husband. Last year, this month, I made this project for him. He is my photographer and I quite enjoy making projects for him too!

I picked a fleece vest pattern from Kwik Sew, 3638. The design is really simple and clean (which makes for a wardrobe staple, to layer). The pattern includes a fleece jacket as well as the vest.

Supplies
1.2m, Anti-pill polar fleece, Dark Grey
0.7m Plain Stretch Swimwear Dress Fabric, Black
0.15m, Lightweight woven interfacing, Black
80/12 Ball Point needle
Grey and Black Universal thread
Iron
Glass head, ball point sewing pins/fabric clips
Prym Replacement Zip Fastener Puller Classic
Two Way Plastic Chunky Open End Zipper, 26”
Wire cutters (to cut zipper pull)
Merchant and Mills Portfolio Project Sketchbook

Fabric Recommendations:
Designed for heavyweight stretch knits.
Suggested Fabrics: Polarfleece, heavy sweatshirt fleece, blanket fleece. Bindings from two-way stretch swimwear fabric with 75% stretch.

Muslin/toile:
I wanted to share that I have made this pattern once before. I used a green fleece for the first version and my husband wears it ALL THE TIME. I kept a tracing but at the time I made the first version, I was not keeping notes in a sewing journal.

When I got into pattern testing and garment sewing more seriously (four years ago) I found it SUPER helpful to keep notes about patterns in a sewing journal. I have three full journals that I’ve kept since then and they are so handy to go back through and reference!

They have been helpful when writing up posts, to have all of the details written out for reference. I like to keep track of which size I made, the fabric I used, and construction notes including what I would do differently the next time (and if I would make the pattern again).

I thought this project would be a great excuse to start a new sewing journal (as my most recent journal is full). I loved this one by Merchant and Mills that I received from Minerva. The binding is hand sewn, there are lots of pages in the book, there’s a folder up front to save scraps of paper (or fabric swatches), and I love the blank page format!

As I looked through the tracing that I kept of the pattern, I was baffled a bit as it was not the size I would have picked for him (it was a size smaller). I found that this pattern runs really big. I compared the dimensions on the back of the pattern envelope with the finished garment dimensions that are printed on a pattern piece (reference the photo below):

To be continued……

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