The body of this vest was cut from two long kimono panels from Laura Murray Designs. Carrie wanted to include as many of the blue-outlined leaves as possible, so she pieced the back to take best advantage of those elements. The back pieces are framed with multi-color raw silk scraps from Mekong River Textiles. Carrie was able to use the selvage edge of the same scrap to create the band, so it is a single light weight layer. The fabric for the sides was found in Carrie’s stash; its not silk, but the colors were just right! Directions for making a swing-sided vest are included in this free download, Make a Tabula Rasa Vest. Of course, a vest can also be made with a basic side panel and you can see other samples like that in this photo gallery.
Very beautiful. Will have to try something like it soon. Thanks for showing it
Is there a pattern for the vest?
The vest is made with the jacket pattern, leaving out the sleeves and making some minor adjustments to the side panel. Swing Variations for the TRJ explains how to do it and includes the pattern for the long side panel that you see in this sample.