When it comes to “perfecting” patterns, it can be hard for me to leave well enough alone. I have so many ideas. I keep tweaking each iteration to make it EVEN BETTER than the last, at least in theory. I think watching Monty Python as a teenager further cemented the idea that a holy grail does exist.

This is my latest iteration of the Quest Vest. The remaining vestiges of the Fibre Mood Irma can be seen in the standing collar seam. You can see my first version here. I was definitely inspired by the #softapocalypse aesthetic.

For this one, I wanted to shorten it further for a cropped quilted vest that would keep my core warm, for the days I want to wear dresses or like today, Not Your Grandma’s Culottes. It’s about 1.5 inches shorter than the last vest I made with this hacked pattern. I rotated the shoulder seams to the back, 18th c. style, because I like the way it looks. This vest, like the others before it, is reversible. I hand quilted two layers of linen and a layer of cotton batting with sashiko thread. I did an ombre rainbow on one side of the front. The colors on the vest are nearly impossible to photograph accurately.

I added a tuxedo tails to the back, because really, why not?There is an abstract nature scene on the opposite front piece, and on the back, kind of a landscape, as I am wont to do. Since the vest is reversible, and I cross it the same way each time I put it on, the rainbow shows more with the black side out, and the abstract landscape on the green side.I bias bound the edges with an earthy batik cotton. Like my last cross-front vest, I used the pattern pieces from the Papercut Luna for the ties. I do my best not to reinvent the wheel. In this chilly fall weather, I wear a quilted vest nearly every day. With three reversible quilted vests and one non-reversible one, that leaves a lot of options for coordinating my colors, which is usually pretty easy since my everyday clothes tend to be black. Whether this is the holy grail of quilted vests, I don’t know. I could have gone even more cropped – but then the elastic waist of the skirts I wear would show. I am definitely Team Elastic Waist, but I feel more put together when I’m the only one who knows what’s holding up my skirt.

I’m sure if the inspiration strikes, I’ll find a way to justify making another quilted vest, but for now I’m laying this thread of inspiration to rest, satisfied that what I’ve made matches up pretty well with what I was aiming for.

Thanks to Four for taking the photos.