A couple of months ago I was sorting out my little girls old vests, wondering what I could do with them as it seemed such a shame to get rid of them. Then it occurred to me.. I could make some vest extenders with them! I had been looking for some to buy but they just seemed so expensive (especially when I included postage) for something which just extends a vest..
These vest extenders are relatively easy to make and if you cut carefully you still have a lot of the vest fabric left so I've also cut a lot out ready to make bunting for her room (although I've yet to get around to making it). Also you get prettier vest extenders from using old vests instead of boring white ones everyone tends to stock!
This is also really quick and only takes around 10-15 minutes for each vest extender.
I'm not a brilliant machinist by any stretch of the imagination but I found these quite easy. The picture below is my first attempt... so please excuse the slightly wonky seams and sewing! They are pretty self explanatory but I've added pictures of each stage to make it even easier to do.
What you will need:
1 old vest for every vest extender you want to make
Matching thread
Scissors
Pins
I start by cutting the three pieces I need, out of the vest and laying them flat on the table. You then need to figure out which way you need to sew the two bits of fabric with the snaps. I used another vest to help me with this, as it's really important that it all attaches to the right bits to work. For me it worked out to have the top snaps in the photo facing upwards and the outer snaps below, facing downwards.
Once I had figured this out, I pinned them together and started to sew a straight line down the them, sewing them together, which should look like this when done...
I have seen some vest extenders left like this but I didn't think it looked as neat so to hide seams and rough edges, I then stitched a 'back piece' onto the snaps pieces like this, along the black lines I have added... (I've cut this a bigger than needed, just so I could show this properly)
Trim any excess fabric off to create neater seams and then turn this inside out and tuck in the tops of the fabric, leaving the snaps exposed, and sew down
And you're done!
I apologise for the un-neat stitching in these photos! I was too busy focusing on getting the right pictures!
I've made a number of these in various sizes for different nappies, so longer ones for night nappies and shorter ones for when she goes up a size in vest and when she's wearing slimmer nappies. I love making these as they cost next to nothing and it's a brilliant way to reuse old vests that you no longer need. Also if you're like me and buy the same brand all the time, they are almost guaranteed to fit!
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