I love finding sewing patterns that are fun to make and will give you useful additions to your wardrobe. For me, the Charlotte Emma Patterns Clove vest is just that! As evidence of how much I like it, I've already made three versions - and I've got two of them to show you today.
The Clove vest is a knit vest top with V-neck or crew neck options and two hem lengths. The vest has tall hem bands sewn in two parts with a split at the sides. The V-neck option has a wide neck band, while the crew neck is finished with a facing. The armholes also use facings.
It comes in two size ranges, with the B-cup range covering bust sizes from 32" to 46", and the D-cup range covering bust sizes from 44" to 60".
The pattern is intended for medium-weight knits and it's great for layering. I have a tank top that I knitted a few years ago that I like wearing in the colder months, so I thought a Clove vest would be a welcome addition to my wardrobe - with the added bonus of it being much quicker to sew a top like this that it would be to knit one!
This was my first time using a pattern from Charlotte Emma Patterns, and I was impressed. The instructions were really good - clear, easy to follow and nicely set out. They have just the right level of detail and I didn't have any trouble sewing up my Clove vests. It has to be said that I haven't tried the V-neck and that's probably the slightly trickier of the two neckline options, but having had a brief look at the instructions, it didn't look like it would be too complicated.
The instructions result in a nice finish too. I've never used facings with knit fabric before and I was slightly concerned about how they'd turn out, but they actually work really well. They're also all topstitched in place, so there's no danger of them flipping out onto the right side of the vest and they look nice and neat.
I made a size 16 - my measurements currently put me just below a 16 but above a 14, and having looked at the finished garment measurements I thought the 16 would give me more of the fit I wanted. Given that it's intended for layering, you don't want the vest to be too closely fitted. I didn't make any alterations, and I'm happy with the fit of the vest.
Initially, I made the full length version in plain navy blue French terry from Dalston Mill (the one I ordered no longer seems to be available). When I tried it on, it looked OK but I thought it would probably fit in with my wardrobe better if I'd made the cropped length. I was about to cut the extra length off but then I realised that I had enough fabric left (I was sent a VERY generous one metre - it was more like 1.5 metres) to cut another cropped version. So my mum was very happy to take the full length one off my hands, and I made myself a cropped version.
I then realised that I hand enough of the floral French terry (which I bought in a closing down sale a few months ago) left from making a dress recently to make myself a second cropped version.
The vest really doesn't use that much fabric at all - particularly if you're using leftovers and have a main chunk of fabric that you can use for the front, back and waistbands and some smaller pieces that would fit the facings.
I think this is probably the quickest that I've ever made three versions of the same pattern, and that's a fairly good indication that the Clove vest gets a big thumbs up from me! And I might not be finished yet because I've found some other leftovers that might be just about big enough to squeeze a vest out of. Watch this space!