Mobius vests have fascinated me for most of my weaving career. Since we moved a great deal, I'm pretty sure my first mobius vest was created while we lived in Rapid City, SD, on my rigid heddle loom. I've now created four mobius style vests. Mobius is actually a term for a connected strip with one twist, giving it an endless edge.
As a vest it refers to shaping that comes from one twist on each shoulder. This removes the usual boxy shape from woven vests and creates an interesting visual of a collar in the front and no collar when viewed from the back.
This red/blue/green vest was woven as a longer vest and the second photo shows how I treated the cut edge
The vest contruction information is below the photos in the November 2022 blog. After contructing the vest I folded the fabric in half to find my cutting line. There I stitched two small zag-zag rows on the edge with my sewing machine. You don't want to make the zig-zag tight you want it to look like lots of w's.
After cutting between them, I use a fine yarn and a lashing stitch to go back and forth between the two selvedges center back and on both sides.. Next, using a fine turquoise yarn I did a basic blanket stitch all around the cut edge taller than the zig-zag stitches. Then to cover the machine stitches I used the same navy (looks dark grey) weft yarn and big eye needle to needle weave three rows using the blanket stitches like a warp. I did this on the inside and the outside for a smooth finish.
This mobius was made for the Convergence Fashion Show 1996, I had a dress made of the same chinelle and gold thread fabric.
This vest was machine sewn tfrom left over pieces of fabric and I used a thin product called "Seams Great" to protect the edges of the cut fabric.
The various pieces allowed me to make a notched collar and tuxedo tails in back. It has a typical folded hem plus a small side insert as the leftover pieces were not quite wide enough for ease.
The small side panels should also be considered when you need more width in the body of the vest but that size would make the collar way too large and floppy.
It was dramatic and appropriate for my first and only Convergence Fashion Show runway outfit.
I have now created four different but similar mobius vests. Be sure to check each out if you have missed any of them.
Nov 2022 has the first two a long dark one and a short gray one.
Oct 2017 has the one I call my orgami mobius vest since it has four folds, and includes small pockets.
This one Jan 2024 explains my favorite edging on the first long vest and has my tuxedo style mobius vest.
