I am delighted to launch my three Koala vests today. They are ideal for any proud Australian, for those who are fans of Koalas (which is not a bear, by the way) or who simply love to be affiliated with Australia in a creative way. You can make a family of koala vests where each member of your family has a size to fit using their favourite main colour.
I’ve kept the patterns relatively simple with plenty of tips and advice on how to do the Koala picture on the front. There’s a schematic with measurements to help you choose the right size vest. Plus, the image of each koala has a chart picture and full written instructions to suit however you like to follow a pattern.
Koala Mama Vest
A unisex pattern. Sizes range from chest 80 – 150 cm (32 – 60 inch). The design includes plenty of ease so the style is relaxed with no waist shaping. There’s a fancy rib pattern around the hips, armholes and neck line. The whole pattern is written out twice to cover 4ply (fingering weight) and 8ply (DK weight) versions.
The sample was knit in 4ply. I like the extra detail in the 4ply picture. With the Sydney Spring weather kicking in early this year, I prefer it to be light weight. If the weather steps back to a brisk temperature, the Koala Mama Vest is easy to layer with a skivvy or blazer. Knitting with pure wool allows the vest to breathe so can be used inside an air conditioned environment all year round.
Usually, I do my samples a size smaller but this time, I tried the next size up and it feels really comfortable. This hand knitted vest is a perfect to match with slim pants, jeans, a pencil skirt. I might even use it with wide linen pants, a crisp white shirt and spats for a sporty 1920’s feel.
Knitting Koala vests for men or for women
I added short row shaping for women’s bust for each size. For a man’s vest, you will leave short rows out. This will slightly lower the position of the image on the front which will look more appropriate for a man’s styling.
On the sampler, for added emphasis, I decided to embroider over the eyes, noses (yes, there are 2 noses) and the leaf. Another option is to use duplicate stitch over these areas. This creates the effect of raising those parts above the rest of the stitches without breaking the stocking stitch pattern. However, you don’t need to add any embroidery or duplicate stitch at all. The eyes are still there in the pattern.
Koala Kid Vest
A unisex pattern for children. Sizes range from 4 years (chest 56cm) – 14 years (chest 86cm). I didn’t make a Size 16 because that is very similar measurements to the smaller adult sizes. The pattern is quite simple in shape with no waist shaping. There is a fancy rib around the hem, armholes and neck which can be replaced with a simple 2×2 rib if need be.
The picture is super cute. I considered designing the back of the vest with a matching knitted image of the back of a koala but decided against it. After raising kids, and seeing how cruel the school yard could be, I didn’t want to risk the wearer being teased about a “big poo” coming out of the bottom of the koala body which is actually the tree trunk.
My model is Max. His family are travelling to the Northern Hemisphere at the end of the year so he is looking forward to showing off his Australian vest to his international family members.
By the way, you might also notice in some images of the Koala Kid vest, it appears to have quite small armholes. This was a mistake in calculating when to start the armhole of my first sampler. The error has been corrected in the written pattern before it was published so, you can rest easy. 🙂
Koala Baby Vest
A unisex pattern for babies to toddlers. Sizes range from newborn up to 24 months. Although the colour isn’t a great match to the other two vests, I felt Mint Green was a good unisex Main Colour for a baby. When I first started working with the Morris and Sons Estate wool, it felt a bit scratchy. I have since found the harshness washes out the first time I blocked the pieces before assembly. The wool is actually quite soft and shiny. Looks like I could have done the Koala Baby vest sampler in Morris and Sons Estate after all. Instead, I used Paton’s Baby Dreamtime Merino 4ply (fingering weight) which is widely available around Australia and easy to buy online if you are elsewhere. I really enjoyed working with this yarn.
The sampler was hand knit in the 6-9 month size. I remember raising my babies and being constantly amazed at their growth spurts. They’d grow slowly and steadily for a while, then suddenly put on a kg in a week. Unless you are planning on having your baby vest completed before the child is born, I suspect you will get more wear out of a larger size of the Koala vests.
The wonderful thing about quality baby clothes is that they don’t wear out fast. When the child grows out of them quickly, you can pass them around the family or clean them up with a lint remover and gift them to a new mum. Hand knitted baby clothing can circulate for many generations. There is rumour that both wool and linen are a higher vibration than our bodies which gives it a healing quality. Though I’ve yet to see the science on this I can definitely feel something magical when I wear either of these yarns against my skin.
Adding embellishments to the hand knitting
I wish I’d been knitting at the time I was raising my own kids, they are both bigger than me now. It would have been fun to see them wear something into which I’d poured all my love and happiness.
I didn’t embroider or duplicate stitch the eyes and nose on this pattern as I wanted a more subtle effect. I also made sure all floats across the back (i.e. float = when you travel an unused yarn colour over to another part of the image) down to about 4 stitches width. This was to avoid little fingers getting caught in the floats when dressing and undressing.
I’d love to see this pattern on a baby so, if you are making one, post it as a project connected to my Ravelry pattern.
———
Yarn used for the hand knit Koala Vest Patterns
I was keen to promote Australian Yarn as the obvious choice for the Koala vests. I chose Morris and Sons “Estate” which is 100% Australian wool. They have a great range of colours, all the subtle greys needed for a seriously cute koala and the prices are economical. You can view the Estate range in their shops or buy online. They have both 4ply and 8ply.
4ply Fingering weight. 50g is 200m. https://morrisandsons.com.au/collections/4-ply-yarn/products/morris-estate-4ply
8ply DK weight for a thicker, warmer yarn. 50g is 100m. https://morrisandsons.com.au/collections/8-ply-yarn/products/morris-estate-8ply
The yarn is dyed in China which is not my ideal. We seriously need a lot more large scale industrial equipment in Australia to cover all the steps of the process for wool, hemp, linen and cotton etc. Many of the textile and yarn production factories in this country have closed down over the past few decades. The Australian government has failed to support this and many other manufacturing industries. I really wish they would fund setting the equipment back up again, especially if they want to get serious about reducing the carbon footprint. We have the land for agriculture and plenty of willing hands to rebuild this industry.
Mohair added to your knitting
The kidsilk mohair was from Fibre Arts Shed – their yarns are great prices and top quality! I used the kidsilk mohair to make the koala fur extra fluffy and found working with it was delightful. Not only did it make the stitches feel more luxurious but I ran the silk across the entire koala chart. This did a wonderful job in regulating the changes of colour, stabilising the stitches and keeping the thickness similar throughout. The only down side is that you will need to hand wash the vest when it needs cleaning (hopefully not too often).
Size Variations
There’s one other thing I could add to this article if you think it will be useful, that is to add instructions to vary the sizes of the koala image on the front of the vests. Both the 4ply ad the 8ply versions of the image are designed to match the same dimensions in their respective ply. This means the 8ply koala has less stitches in the chart than the 4ply version.
If you worked the 4ply image on an 8ply vest you get a much larger koala. Vice versa as well. If you work the 8ply image on a 4ply vest you get a smaller koala.
The dimensions change which means you will have to start the image in a different place on the front of the vest and place your markers for the edge of the chart differently as well. I am happy to calculate the placement of the image and add it here. Just send me an email if you want me to do so.
Buy your Koala Vest pattern here
Payhip is a pop up window that allows you to pay via Paypal or credit card. Both Payhip and Ravelry show prices in US dollars.
Browse the Payhip store for all my patterns.
To hear about my new hand knitting patterns as they are released, Subscribe here.
Check out my gradient Shortcut Scarf with a fringe.