Hunting Vest - Blaze Orange

My father-in-law was planning a trip to Colorado for elk hunting recently.  When he realized that the temperatures were going to be rather warm, he decided he needed something different than his big thick winter hunting coat!  He tried to find a vest at the local sporting goods stores, but they didn't carry have his size in stock.  Daughter-in-law to the rescue!  I made this the day before they left for their trip!  My mother-in-law went to the craft store and bought 2 yards of bright orange denim and a zipper.  I used his hunting coat for my patter.  I wanted the vest to be the same size as the coat, but a little shorter.  I traced around the coat bottom, and the top of the shoulder.  I drew in the arc for the arm hole free hand, but only for one side.  Then, I cut out that half of the vest and folded it in half to trace the other arm hole.  I wanted them to be the same!

Here are my pieces.  To get the front pieces, I folded the back piece in half, and traced it adding an inch to the folded seam for the zipper.

Once I was ready to sew, the first thing I did was zig zag stitch all the way around all the pieces. Denim is bulky fabric, and I didn't want to double roll the hems. Next, put the zipper in.  There are plenty of tutorials online if you need help with zippers. My only advice is get a zipper foot for your machine!

I also stitched on each side of the zipper to finish it a little more.

Once the zipper is in, sew the pieces together starting with the shoulders, then the sides. Lastly, hem the neck, arm and waist. The zipper I had was actually a bit too long, so I ended up folding it down a bit (see pictures below).

Here it is finished:

Good luck hunting in Colorado!