Strawberry Fields Forever

It all started with this . . . assorted strawberry-themed fabrics. A few tone-on-tone fabrics
in related colors were added to the pile. I like strawberries because they’re so pretty! And,
they taste good! I decided to make a vest from these fabrics.  My vest is not yet finished,
but you can see what I've done so far, by continuing down the page.

I made some Seminole patchwork strips while at an art retreat in early April. These strips
will be incorporated into my vest.



Once I cut pattern pieces out of the batting, in this case, cotton flannel, I started playing with
layout ideas.

This is a “rough” layout of the vest back.



I moved pieces around on the  front sections of the vest. I tried two different layouts. Note, some of the fabrics have traded places!

I liked the second layout (below) best.


When I reach the point of having the entire vest pieced, I’ll start adding some

embellishments. Typically I’ll start by choosing some novelty threads and yarns to be

hand-couched atop the patchwork. Photo below shows what I’ve chosen to use on my

strawberry-themed vest, so far!


Decorative strands are hand-couched in random arrangements. Using regular sewing thread, I pull needle and thread from the batting side to the pieced side. I then stitch over the strand about every1/4 to 3/8  inch. I give a slight tug to each stitch to create added texture. I will continue to add many
more pieces of yarn and decorative trims.





The two detail shots below show my hand-couched trims.  More progress will be shown on a
future post!