“Where do you get your fabric from?”, my friend asks.

“As Souvenirs from travels!”, I respond. And then proceed to pour buttons into her lap.

Realistically, I don’t buy a tonne of fabric overseas.

Partially because I have too much fabric already, partially because I am very very cheap (I like to buy second hand, or for 1 pound a metre in India), and partially because I always travel light- mostly with just hand luggage.

So realistically, while I did come back from India and Australia (‘suitcase travels’) with some loot, when I went to China in 2024 and visited Taiwan this year, I mostly came back with buttons and fixings.

This, for example, is my China Button Loot:

Some of these have already been made into earrings, while others are actually existing in their intended button-y form.

I do think some of the lack-of-fabric purchasing is also my inability to speak the language and to haggle. I went into a couple of fabric stores in China, but was unable to ask how much things cost- particularly given that fabric costs requires incorporation of understanding of both a price and a length.

But I did buy one piece of fabric.

Half a metre of the most beautiful soft green silk, covered in rolling hills and stylized trees.

As an aside, the border fabric I think is one I may have bought in the Netherlands about 15 years ago, and I regret that I’ve almost finished it now. To me, it’s the perfect mix of plain black colour, with a little bit of special texture.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Also while in China, I saw this really cool vest thing:

And I coveted it.

But also my covetousness came with a side of ‘I wonder if I can do that myself’.

And just a couple of years and many hours of sewing later, here she is:

I actually did make a sort of mockup/muslim for this one- using some brown paper and then an old bedsheet to work out the pattern pieces which would optimise the visual impact of the silks while minimising excessive use of my very valuable fabric.

I designed it primarily to be worn open as a little vest- a bit like the one I first saw in China.

But also wanted to give the opportunity to wear it as a crop top.

For that reason, my ‘boob edges’ have a bit more material, which allows me to both pin it closed, using two small hook an eyes, but also to tie it more in a kind of knot shape:

The second option is actually a bit better in terms of boob coverage. In the hook-and-eye conformation the bottom has a bit of gape, because I didn’t want to create any darts or gathering that would ruin the OG ‘vest’ conformation.

I’m still debating whether or not I add a bit of string in the bottom black channel that can be pulled to tighten against the skin and prevent gaping/underboob. But that’s a future problem.

The back of the vest looks a bit like this:

And I particularly love how it allows for a more continuous landscape of the mountains and trees.

Of course, it can also be worn backwards, although this does come with a bit of gaping at the upper arm (again- given the lack of shaping around the boobs):

And yeah, at this stage you probably guessed already that the whole thing works inside out

The other side of the vest is also what I’m 99% sure is silk- although this is a thinner stiffer type than the luxurious Chinese fabric. It’s originally from a saree, but I think I bought that in a charity shop here in the UK.

SO!

Overall I’m incredibly happy with how this turned out- I think it’s one of the most beautiful things I’ve made. And I’m looking forward to different wearing styles, particularly as winter comes around in the Great North.

Finished some time in September, 2026