[sayiamyou]

Can someone lead me in the right direction to find material for the quilted vest? Should I be looking for one specific type of material or 2 individual pieces, one quilting cotton and one fleece to sew together?

[TriMama]

You can do it either way. Pre-quilted fabric is available. It’s usually in the quilting section of my local fabric store and is available in limited colors/patterns. It’s also not warm enough for my taste, although we live in Canada, so this may not be an issue for you.

I actually quilted two layers of polar fleece with a layer of quilting cotton in between for ODD’s lining. In retrospect, I think it’s a bit too thick and stiff, but will definitely be warm enough.

I like that I’ll be able to use the same lining with ODD’s School Days raincoat and wool winter coat.

[Rpankow]

I ended up making the quilted vest for my daughter’s raincoat. I used one layer of nice fleece (almost minky-like) and a layer of quilting cotton and quilted those together. I did the quilting first, then cut out the pattern piece. It seems to be just the right weight. For my her winter coat, I plan on using quilting cotton, two layers with thinsulate inbetween and will do the sleeves. For the sleeves I’m actually doing them with some slick coat lining on the inside and quilting cotton on the outside for getting on easier. I hope this helps, have fun!

Rebecca

[sayiamyou]

perfect! thanks girls!

[Violaisabelle]

I think this will depend on how warm of a coat you need this to be. If you are looking for a very warm coat with not too much weight, I would make your own quilted fabric by using Thinsulate http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thinsulate as your insulating material. There are a few different weights of it, and depending on how warm you want it, choose one that is heavier or lighter. Using a quilted cotton with that would be OK, but again I might choose a different fabric, based on how warm I want the coat or how much moisture I want wicked away from the body.

Happy sewing,

Carol

[sayiamyou]

Found some really pretty pre-quilted Amy Butler that I think I’ll plan to use for the vest. Thanks for all the insight. I think this will be gracious plenty warmth for our location. I’m looking forward to getting it worked up to see how it’ll be on it’s own. My husband I wear vests all the time, especially in the fall, so I may end up making another vest just for a light layer.