Create a Lovely, Lacy Shabby Chic Vest from hand-crocheted doilies!

Stitch a charming vest from dainty, crocheted doilies!
Each vest made out of doilies will be different according to the doilies you have, natch.

Wherever I go, I’m on the lookout for more doilies to add to my ongoing collection of the sweet, crocheted dainties, used on such projects as this skirt. These are the ones I used on this project (left).
Of course, if you can buy them inexpensively, whatever you make out of them will cost you less.
Bear in mind that you’ll usually want to use several-to-many doilies per garment you are making. Again, a Goodwill Outlet is the best place I’ve found, ’cause you pay per pound…and doilies weigh very little. Antiques shops nearly always have a few, but they want dollars per, instead of pennies per.
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To start:
For this one, I started out with a fairly large rectangular doily. When I found it, I immediately thought it should be the back of something. I thought about replacing the back of a blouse or top with it—that’s also a good idea for large doilies.
But, then, when I considered a vest, well…I just HAD to make a vest!! I love vests, anyway! ❤
Figure out your arrangement of doilies:
I laid out the large rectangular back piece and tried out different doilies from my stash till I liked the arrangement.

I photographed the completed vest on a black T-shirt so you could see it better (above and right).

Using different sizes and shapes and hues makes for a more interesting vest. 😀 The “holes” for the neck and arms really don’t have to be exact or match on both sides. To me, the irregularity adds to the uniqueness of this shabby chic piece.

Place one doily:
After you’ve figured out your design (placement), gather them up again. Lay on the table what will become your back piece,  by itself. Place—one at a time—each doily in its place. It helps to put a notebook or something in between the back and front pieces—easier to pin, easier to distinguish between doilies.
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Pin, pinch, and sew:
I started at the shoulder. Pin one doily to the back piece along the seam line you will sew: If the doily on the shoulder is rounded, overlap it some and pinch the two together and pin.
Take it to your machine and sew the seam. Be sure your color of thread blends. I used white, even though some doilies are white, while others are cream or tan. I like using different colored doilies instead of all white.
When you’re sewing them together, if one doily is loose-weave, as in my case, make sure you catch the loosely woven strings with your needle.
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Place second doily, pin, sew:
Lay out your work-in-progress on the table again, with the notebook in between the front and back.
Next, lay the bottom doily on the back piece, overlapping its rounded edge over the side edge of the back piece. This time, I folded the rounded edge around the edge of the back, enveloping the loosely-woven edge of the back piece, and pinned. And sewed.

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Third:
Lay the work-in-progress back on the table with the notebook in between the front and back, smooth it out so it lies the way it’s supposed to lie, and insert your third doily. I liked the pattern on the white oval doily, so I put it under the oval doily, then overlapped the middle doily over the bottom doily, and pinned. And sewed.

Since these two have different shapes, I sewed twice, following the edge of each shape.
One side is finished!
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Now, for the other side:
Do the same with the other side: Start with the shoulder area.
Because the overlap of the rounded doily was greater (than the overlap of the oval doily on the other side), I folded the rounded edge over the edge of the back piece, pinned, and sewed—being sure that the strings of the loosely-woven back piece were enveloped in the folded-over seem.
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Again, I added the bottom doily on that side, next—folded it over the side edge of the back piece (with the strings of the loosely-crocheted back doily caught inside the folded-over part), pinned, and sewed—with the seam capturing the strings of the back piece.
It doesn’t matter if the folded-over piece “flaps in the breeze.” It doesn’t need to be sewn down.
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Now, insert the middle doily. I liked the shape of that one, so it remained in the forefront. As you sew, follow the edges of the shapes.

This is the finished second side.

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All done!! 😀

Now, try it on, and admire your work! 😀

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