Fringe Crochet Vest

My husband has worked five years with an amazing company, and they honor all the employees that have been there for each year by fives, so we were invited to attend a dinner in his honor (among others)!  The invitation said to wear "dressy western" attire.

I have nothing that is western!  My cousins in Colorado had the western wear, but I never had anything remotely western.  Guess that's what happens when you grow up in San Diego!

Laredo Paprika

Laredo London

So, I started searching Pinterest for "Dressy Western Outfits" and only a handful of ideas came up that I could work with.  I realized that first, for both my husband and I, we would want to get some cowboy boots.

I looked on Ebay and Amazon and found a good deal on Amazon for both pairs.  For myself, I got Laredo Women's Paprika Western Boot.  I don't know what price you'll find when you check them out, but I got a great deal in my size! For my husband we found Laredo Men's London Western Boot. We also got a good deal on his boot, and great service, as we realized that my husband's go-to size was too large in this boot.  They let us return the pair and get the right size.

We dropped by the local Boot Barn store, and in there I found a crochet vest that I thought was cool.  But being a crocheter, I thought, "I could make something like that!"  I searched for about a week for a pattern, but I realized I was going to have to make it up.  But I found the same "yarn" as the vest at Michael's, which was perfect!  It's called Bernat Maker Home Dec and I got it in Cream.

I started with a circular motif for the back, and a large size N crochet hook.   I used my dressform to make sure it was wearable, and began to crochet the straps over the shoulders.  Once the front measured the same as the length of the motif, I attached them together and then crocheted the "skirt" part of the vest.  I then added a fringe.

The vest project was frustrating, because I knew exactly what I wanted to make, but had a hard time finding any pictures, let alone patterns.  But it was also fun because it came together in the end.  I'm hoping to create a pattern for it in the future, so others don't have to find the same frustration, hopefully!

In case you're curious, the dress I'm wearing under the vest is Anne Klein.  I found it at the second hand store more than a year ago, and I thought chambray (or denim) would be great with the boots.
So there's a crafty, non-western mom's approach to "dressy western" for a fancy dinner.  Hah!

P.S. I'm realizing that in every home I move into, I have to find that photography sweet spot for my photos.  It's a learning process for me and I still haven't quite got the right spot in this new home!