The Gardener’s Gilet…

Is it a gilet? A waistcoat? A bodywarmer? Or even a vest? I didn’t really know what this little item would identify as, but the Gardener’s Gilet had a nice ring to it and since I made my first one in the spring as an extra layer to wear when gardening, it made sense to call it that.

I found the process of making my gilet addictive, so much that I started to look through my fabric stash and picking up the needle and thread to put together a small collection of one-of-a-kind gardener’s gilets.

Each gilet is hand finished (the beginning and middle are made by me on my sewing machine) with straight and blanket stitches using sashiko threads. I do this by eye to add to the ‘handmade’ feel. I’ve tried to minimise waste by using fabrics that I already owned and patching small pieces together if necessary. Some are lightly padded, and as far as I’m aware made with natural fabrics.

I’ve kept prices on this first collection as low as is reasonable. I can justify this as I see making these as more of a hobby, something I can pick up for fun at the end of the day, but they are quite labour intensive. I have a few more in progress, including a colourful chequered linen, and a lush teal velvet gilet which is so dreamy and perfect for xmas - I’m trying my best to finish it asap!

Rachael x