Riot vest

So just in case you missed my ecstatic mug shots yesterday, last night was the first episode of the second series The Great British Sewing Bee. This is the show that Project Runway failed to be for me, catering for the dressmaking enthusiast who wants practical tips and inspiration, not just Klum knocking the stuffing out of some over dramatic and over dressed “designers”. In honour of the best and only home sewing programme on telly, I dedicate this post to May Martin, and pray that she never sees how wonky my stitching is.

The idea for this top occurred to me at 6.30am on a Saturday morning: a simple black vest with open sides held in place by fixed straps. Once an idea takes hold I find them very hard to resist, and getting back to sleep is almost impossible. So within half an hour I had wriggled out of bed and was foraging through my fabric stash. A light, super soft charcoal grey wool turned out to be just perfect.

I didn’t bother with a pattern; I started with two rectangles of black wool plus a few scraps, and began pinning and positioning on the mannequin until I was happy with the shape. Cutting the front and back was straightforward enough, but fitting the side straps was a little fiddly in order to get the front and back to hang nicely when worn. But the end result looks great over a simple blouse, and adds an unusual touch to any winter outfit. I love working with this kind of felted wool fabric, because you can leave the edges raw and un-hemmed without worrying that they will fray and unravel.

It wasn’t until I put the top on a hanger to photograph that I realised how much it resembles a riot vest. Well, in my role as a fashion innovator I have to tell you that this is law-enforcement chic May, and you saw it here first.