DIY Ribbed Vest Top

I really enjoy upcycling old items of clothing to turn them into new ones (this top made from old jeans remains one of my all time favourite makes) and often do this with clothes that I no longer wear. Upcycling isn't limited to RTW garments though, altering old me-mades which are no longer worn is also a great way to make turn something unwearable into something new - and as a bonus you get two items of clothing from one piece of fabric. 

I'm really proud of the fact that most of the things I make are really wearable, and pieces such as this skirt or this dress which I made years ago I continue to wear now. But often the things that I've made in the past require some small tweaks. For example, I have since added pockets to and turned up the hem of my Delphine Skirt to make it more wearable. I'm particularly pleased with the way I altered these Dawn Jeans into flares which I have worn a lot more. Other things that I've made in the past no longer fit me or the sewing isn't good enough (any knits made pre-overlocker feel rubbish in comparison to those I make now!) and so these require more drastic changes. 

Of course not all things that I've made previously that no longer fit can be adapted. My Ginger Jeans, for example, got a lot of wear at the time and whilst I was disappointed that I couldn't continue wearing them - they took so long to make! - I'm still so pleased I did make them and enjoyed wearing them. Those jeans were also part of the learning curve which has enabled me to make several pairs of jeans recently which fit perfectly. 

I made this stripy turtleneck top way back in 2017. In fact, the blog post was written in January so I probably started the project in 2016! I'd been making my own clothes for a couple of years then and was starting to learn how to self-draft my own patterns. I'm actually still quite pleased with how the turtleneck turned out as I hacked the Tilly and the Buttons Coco Top pattern which has a very different neckline, but since making turtleneck tops following actual patterns I haven't been wearing that one anymore. The sewing also wasn't great as the side seams were sewn using a zigzag stitch rather than an overlocker. 

I really liked the fabric that I used to make the turtleneck so I decided to salvage it and make a new top from the old one. The fabric I used was a black and white rib bought from Guthrie & Ghani, so ideal to make a vest top. I was obviously limited by the amount of fabric available and the fact that it was already sewn into a top, so a sleeveless vest top was probably the only option. 

The first thing I did was to entirely unpick the top, giving me flat pieces of fabric. I then cut out the front and back bodices from the old front and back and used the sleeves to create strips of binding. I copied a RTW vest top to make this and I really liked the detail of having the binding overlap round the edges to enclose the seams. It's possible to do with a rib that doesn't fray and makes a change from the method that I used for this top. 

This was such an easy make and I'm very pleased to have given this fabric a new life. I was able to enjoy it both as a turtleneck which I wore quite a bit at the time and now as a new top which better fits my current style. I'm wearing this top with my grey Anima Pants here and have also worn it with my wide-legged Dawn Jeans, it's a great basic that I'm very pleased to own.