Denim Vest - Blog Posts

Random thing I’m doing!

Madding a patch pattern to my denim vest because why not?

vest update

there's a few patches that I've temporarily removed to make room for the blue jay piece i added, but I'll probably reattach those to the back

here's a close up of the blue jay, which i made out of clothing scraps and embroidery thread

this is my vest so far! I've been working on it in my spare time, and though it's slow progress since im embroidering almost all the patches by hand, im super proud of what I've managed. if anybody has any ideas for sci-fi / cryptid / queer supportive / spooky patches, please let me know!

as a side note, i do have a large back panel for this vest where the "protect trans youth" patch is. the back piece will only be attached with safety pins, so i think I'm going to put my more political patches there so if i feel unsafe i can cover them up. i made it over the summer but i recently started going back and touching it up, so I'll make a post with it soon!

for about a week now I've been working on a DIY vest. it's not a battle vest, but i am taking inspiration from some of the patch ideas and maybe adding spikes

here's my process so far:

(EDITED with image descriptions - thanks for the reminder in the tags!!)

i dyed a pale blue vest with one full bottle of graphite synthetic dye. it's still sadly a little blue, but it's dark enough that it isn't super noticable, so I'll live. if you have any questions about the exact process, ill answer them in the comments!

i then added two regular pockets after seam ripping the fake ones - why do they even put fake pockets on these - and two inner pockets using the shape of the upper pocket as a guide. one of them is embroidered with quotes from a post by turboennui on here about Laika, the first dog in space sent from Russia

then i added a detachable hood taken from an old sweatshirt, which is attached to the vest via six buttons. i get anxious when i don't have a hood on my clothes, so if i don't wear this vest over a sweatshirt, i still have the option to have more comfort

yesterday, i planned out and began embroidering the back panel. it will be a detachable piece of black fabric from an old button up shirt, connected only with safety pins so i don't have to commit to a theme and instead have multiple artworks to swap out. this one is a few black ferns and a pale blue moth (type undecided) atop a starry night sky background

if you guys have any ideas of stuff to add or embroider, or tips for making a denim vest in general, comments are greatly appreciated! ill post another update once the vest is finished