Oliver + S Explorer/Fishing vest

A dear friend of ours was turning 4 years old.  I wanted to make him something special and different for a birthday gift.  I know he would have appreciated a new 'cool shirt', but I wanted something more.  After thinking about it and seeing some inspiration pictures, I decided to go with a fishing/explorer vest theme. 

My friend's father likes to go fishing, as well as his uncles.  He is eagerly awaiting to go on his uncle's fishing boat.  I wanted a vest that was multipurpose and hopefully would fit for a few years.  I also wanted it so that a life vest could go over top, easily enough.

I decided to use the Oliver + S Little Things To Sew Explorer Vest and built it from there.

Changes I made to the vest were:

I added Velcro closures to the pockets to help keep treasures inside.
I used a zipper, instead of buttons, which gave more room to last longer.
I added D rings and a clip for being able to clip on items of interest.
I also added a D ring to the back to use for hanging up on a hook.
I made the bias strips 2.5 inches wide, instead of the instructed 2" wide.

The fun items we added to the gift, to go with the vest were:

Binoculars
Flashlight
Head lamp
Compus
Carabiner clips
Explorer net
Wooden gun

The vest is made out of a cotton twill that is a light to medium weight.  The lining is made from a cotton camo fabric that was light in weight.

I chose to make the bellow pockets, which were more work, but so worth it.  The pockets will hold a few more items. 

I had so, so much fun planning this project and sewing it up for him.  I was delighted to know he likes his gift, very, very much! :)  I now have two more to make for two sons who have ideas of exactly what they want on theirs. :)

Good Night,

Carol