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By Esi Hutchinson
Welcome to our second sew-along for the 147 Norwegian Bunad. Today, I will show you how to make the Bunad Vest! If you didn't see the Bunad Blouse sew-along, go here to read more.
In this sew-along, I’ll walk you through the steps of creating this basic vest and show you how I customized mine to spark ideas for your design. Throughout this sew-along, I’ll keep embellishments simple, but it’s important to note that for traditional bunads, and folkdrakts and festdrakts (folk or festival dresses), vests are often adorned with intricate embroidery or trim, making them a standout piece of the outfit. If you’d like to add embroidery or trim, be sure to plan it out and incorporate it after the vest has been sewn.
Like the bunad blouse, this vest is easy to sew and serves as a great foundation for adding your own personal touches through embroidery and other embellishments. For more details and embroidery designs, check out the History and Detailing section in the pattern!
Let's get started.
Fabric
The vest requires very little fabric (always a bonus!). For the bunad vest, medium to heavyweight fabrics like wool, cotton, linen, or silk are recommended. Wool is the traditional choice, but brocades are also sometimes used in bunads or festdrakts and can be a beautiful option. Be sure to research the fabric type and color that best suits the specific bunad or costume you're creating. While vests are commonly made in red or black, colors like blue, green, and other dark tones can also be used. For this sample, I chose a dark red heavy-weight cotton poplin. Remember to wash and press your fabric according to its type before cutting out the pattern.
Sizing
Choose the size that best fits you from the sizing and yardage charts (as well as the "finished measurements"). The vest is meant to be very fitted at the waist and open at the front. The vest can be closed at the waist with a clasp or it can be laced up the front (but still worn a open). I am between a Small and Medium in Folkwear's grade rule, and knowing all these details, I made a size medium for this vest.
Seam Finishes
To finish your seams while you're sewing, you can overcast, zig-zag or use pinking shears to finish the raw edges. French seams or turning the raw edges under and stitching work for this pattern also, especially for lighter weight fabrics. I serged the raw edges of the seams in this vest.
Cutting Out Your Pattern
There are six pattern pieces for the vest (H-M). There are different cutting lines for View A and B on the Front H and Front Facing L. The Back I and Collar M are cut on the fold. Look at the cutting layouts in the pattern to find the one that is best for your size and fabric width. The layouts are for fabric with or without nap, pile, or one-way designs.
If you want to lengthen or shorten your vest, add to the bottom hem of the pattern pieces H-L before cutting out your fabric, but without narrowing your pattern pieces. Again, check the finished measurements to see if you want to make lengthening or shortening changes.
If the pattern piece in the cutting layouts in our pattern is shaded, it needs to be placed with the printed side down. All pattern pieces should be placed on the right side of your fabric. Cut out the pattern carefully according to the instructions. Be sure you transfer all the markings, which are only dots and circles, depending on what view of the vest you are making. I will be making View A, which has a front similar to the Telemark style bunad.
Sewing the Vest
Front: Starting with the darts on front H, fold the darts with right sides together and stitch on the stitching line. Don't backstitch, but leave the long tails at dart point (dot) and tie off. This keeps the dart tip from puckering.
With right sides together, pin and stitch the Side Fronts J to the Front H pieces, matching the notches. Press the seam towards the side front or press the seam open.
Back: With right sides together, pin and stitch the vest Side Back K to Back I, matching the notches. You will need to ease the fabric around the curves. Clip the seam allowance at the curves to help the seam lay flat. Press the seams towards the back or press open.
Shoulder and Sides: With right sides together, sew the front of the vest to the back at the shoulders, matching the single notches. Press the seams open or press to the back.
To hem the outer edge of the facings, I serged the edge and pressed 1/4" (6mm) to the wrong side and topstitched the pressed edge.
Now, we can put the facings and the vest together. Pin the facing to the neck and front of the vest. Match center back notches, shoulder seams, and front notches to the vest and stitch. Trim the seam allowance and clip the seams at the curves.
For View B, stitch to the dot and pivot and stitch to the corners and pivot. Clip to the dot and trim the corners and seam allowances to help the facing turn easily to the inside.
Clip at the curve at the neck to allow it to turn cleanly to the inside of the vest. Turn the facing to the inside of the vest and press well. 
You can understitch the facing to the seam allowance by stitching the seam allowance to the facing near the seam. This will help keep the facing from rolling out.
Whipstitch the facing at the shoulder seams to hold it in place.
Finishing Armholes: You can purchase 1/2" (13mm) bias tape or make your own. I cut a strip of the same red cotton fabric I've been using for the vest 1" (2.5cm) wide and longer than I needed to fit around both of the armholes. When I cut the strip, I cut it on the bias. When cutting your bias tape, cut 1" (2.5cm) longer than you need for your armhole opening. I pressed the long edge to the inside of my bias tape by 1/4" (6mm) on each side.
Making my own bias tape with leftover sections of my fabric.
Open out one long pressed edge of the bias tape and turn 1/4” (6mm) under at one short end of the bias. With right sides together, pin bias to armhole of vest starting with the turned-under end, and beginning at the underarm seam (where Back and Side Back meet). Continue pinning around the armhole, ending at the underarm seam. Slightly overlap the beginning edge of bias by about 1/2” (13mm) and trim off any of the extra bias tape. Stitch the bias tape to the armhole using a 1/4” (6mm) seam allowance (stitching in the fold line of the bias tape).
You can trim and clip the seam allowances as needed. Then turn bias completely to inside of vest at the seam and press well. Topstitch or whipstitch the pressed edge of the bias tape close to folded edge of bias to finish.
The armhole is a perfect place to add embroidered ribbon or plain ribbon trim (velvet ribbon is very pretty). I added embroidered ribbon to the armholes on this vest by topstitching on each side of the ribbon (and overlapping at the underarm).
Finishing Hem: To hem the vest you have a couple of options. You can bind the hem in the same way as you did the armhole, or you can press under 1/4” (6mm) and 1/4” (6mm) again and stitch close to the pressed edge.
To bind the hem, you could use ribbon, felt, or a fold-over braid instead of bias tape. If using bias tape, we suggest using 3/4" (1.9cm) wide bias tape with a 3/8" (9.5mm) seam allowance. I made my bias tape and cut the stripe 1-1/2" (3.8cm) wide to make 3/4" (1.9cm) bias tape.
Cut your bias tape 1" (2.5cm) longer than you need and open out one long edge of the bias. Fold out front-facing because you will hem that edge as well. With right sides together, pin one long edge of the bias to the hem of the vest, extending the bias 1/2" (13mm) on each side of the edge of the folded-out facings. Stitch using a 3/8" (9.5mm) seam allowance. Press the seam allowance towards the vest.
Turn the 1/2" (13mm) overhang to the inside of the bias and press. Turn the rest of the bias tape to the inside of the vest at the seam line you just sewed. Blindstitch or topstitch along the edge of bias to finish, and then press the facings back in place.
Hand tack facings in place at the hem to the bias tape.
I topstitched a different embroidered ribbon to the hem of the vest
The waist is another good place to add embroidered ribbon or other trim. I topstitched the ribbon to the waist and turned under each ribbon end by 1/2" (13mm) at the center front.
I used a metal clasp as my closure and sewed one at the waist. You can also use other clasps or closures at the waist, such as dress hook and eyes or a button and loop. The pattern has markings for adding eyelets or grommets to make holes for lacing up the front. You can use ribbon or laces to tie up the front through the lacing holes.
Next week, we will have a sew along for the Skirt and Apron!
Heidi Lea
April 18, 2025
I’m so glad to see View A made up! I am also making a Telemark styled vest (liv). I think this must be a West Telemark style, which is laced with silver or pewter eyelets and a chain, but I am making an East Telemark version which is closed. I was wondering how wide the gap would be at the top in View A, so seeing it is really helpful so I can make modifications more quickly. I can now see why the Stakk og Liv (literally “skirt and vest,” which was the most recent iteration of folk dress in East Telemark, Category 1), that I’ve been looking at online have an extra piece that seems to start mid bust!
I already have my shirt cut out of some purple stash silk, and I have some super lux silk damask for the vest. Thank you for taking the time to do this sew along, it is helpful and encouraging, and even a bit like body doubling. I was very excited to hear that this pattern was coming for years and I’m glad it is finally here!