Little Things to Sew: Explorer Vest

This is my eighth project from the Little Things to Sew Book (I still haven't got a picture of that tutu to show). It is one project from the book I thought I would never sew up. 

I thought my daughter was too girly to want this but recently she has become very interested in all things nature and bug-like. 

I chose my fabric carefully to match the hat that she already has (which used to be mine). I picked a sand coloured cotton for the outer fabric and a soft flannel with a fun camping print for the inside.

The flannel makes it incredibly snuggly. This might even get some winter wear!

I had some fun with details on this. I was worried it would look too boyish so tried to make it girly with some bug appliques.

A flying ladybird....

And for the back, a beautiful blue butterfly.

I was thrilled to find this butterfly. I had searched the web for appliques and they all looked a bit babyish, but this one is fancy and we love it!

I used silver and blue thread for the running stitch on this one.

The flannel is from Fabric Rehab. The camping print was too appropriate for me to resist buying it. I have just enough flannel left to trim a pair of PJ's which is now a project to be saved for the winter.

I had a heck of a time finding coloured snaps for the vest. I didn't want to use buttons because this will probably be used for dress up play and so it needed to be easy to do up.

Eventually about 2 weeks after finishing the project I found these red ones from Jaycotts. 

Back in February I treated myself to some fat quarters of Makower fabric which turned out to be great for this project. I lined the front pockets with these cute bees and little chicks.

We had a lot of fun playing about in the garden for some photos. Amazing how we manage to have so many props lying about the house already!

This outfit lasted all day. We even went to the shops in it.

Making the bellows version of the pockets (you can just make them patch pockets, which is easier), gave them so much capacity. We discovered that the bug book fitted perfectly into the back pocket.

So there we have it. An unexpectedly delightful thing to sew, which is going to get a lot of wear.