Jacobean Vest

This vest is made with polyester moiré fabric for the body and hand-dyed cotton fabrics for the appliqués. I made bias binding from the same fabric as the leaves for the vines and used the same blue-green fabric for the collar. The vines were attached with a buttonhole stitch and the bird motifs and leaves were traced on tracing paper. I positioned them on the vest body with the appropriate color for the section (starting with the ones furthest away), then stitched around that section and carefully removed the paper pattern. I trimmed close to the stitching and then did satin stitch around the edges. I used antique buttons for the closures and anchored the button loops with appliquéd leaves. The vest is lined with 100% cotton. The embellishment continues on the back with more vines, leaves, flowers and birds.