Hello everyone, this is going to be a slowly updated process as I don't have nearly as much time to work on my first kit as I wish I did. I'm 100% starting from scratch and working on soft goods at the moment. That said, I wanted to post some pictures of my flak vest mock-up to get some opinions/feedback. The following are images of my muslin mock-up (wanted to get a "pattern" before I construct it out of duck cloth).
My plan is for a velcro side closure, double layered in the front and it would open/close kind of like a wrap because, based on the pattern, the collar is going to be tight enough I'm not sure I'll be able to get it over my head. I want to do the shoulders in a leather/faux leather to contrast with the duck cloth/cotton. The placement of the contrasting shoulder fabric is indicated by the red marker lines. I'm also considering the possibility of adding lacing on the sides as decoration AND as a way to tighten the vest a little if needed (which may necessitate using a softer/lighter fabric on the side pieces now that I think about it).
Two different options for where the outer front piece would attach...
Option 1 (attaches just below the shoulder piece):
(with the front "open")
(side/back view)
Option 2 (attaches lower/diagonally across the chest):
