Tag: vest

Test Vest

Kwik Sew 3524

This is Kwik Sew 3524, a simple-looking strappy vest top. It’s made from two of Paul’s old t-shirts. It looks okay, but there are a couple of things I’d change. The join of the straps to the body is a bit bulky, I’m sure there’s a better way of putting that togther. And the neck is just a little bit wonky, which a line of top stitching would fix, no problem.

Kwik Sew 3524

This is the inside, which is lined with a shelf bra. Again, it’s okay, but I don’t like having that inch of nylon elastic directly against the skin, when it could be hidden between the two layers of nice soft cotton. And I need to join the two layers together at the side seam, otherwise it takes a certain amount of faffing about to make the two layers line up neatly. And who has time for faffing when they’re trying to put their vest on in the morning?

Anyway, thanks to our impending house move (have I mentioned that yet? I’m not really on top of what’s going on around here lately), Paul has pulled a big pile of surplus-to-requirements t-shirts out of his wardrobe. His clear-out is my gain, because I now have plenty of nice soft jersey to have a couple more test runs at this.

Hopefully the eventual result will be a nice soft, comfortable vest!

Corduroy and Velvet

Corduroy and velvet

This weekend I’ve been sewing the waistcoat to go with the Dorset buttons I made last Sunday. The pattern is McCalls 8285, and the fabric is a sage green cotton velvet. It’s almost finished – I just need to make the buttonholes, and sew a little silver buckle onto one of the straps at the back.

The trousers I actually made a few weeks ago. I didn’t photograph them because as soon as they were finished I put them on, and I’ve been wearing them (or washing them) ever since! They’re another pair of Vogue 1034, this time in black needlecord with a bit of a stretch to it. The pockets and waistband are lined with the remnants of the Sea of Holes fabric – just so I could feel amused by having pockets full of holes. (Yes yes, groan, I know.)

The trouble with wearing both cord and velvet is that they both act a bit like velcro when it comes to fluff. The cords accidentally went through the washing machine with a stray tissue which left them all white and fuzzy, and now they’re covered in green dandruff from cutting the velvet.

This outfit is two-thirds of what I’ll be wearing when I go out playing the recorder with the clog dancers. I now have just less than three weeks to either make or buy a shirt with long sleeves and no collar. I’ve got miles of white polycotton that’s suitable for shirting, and two patterns that would be fine. One is Folkwear 117 that I’ve made before, and the other is McCalls 5976. It just remains to be seen whether I’ll have time to make one of them, or whether I’ll need to dash down to the shops. Thankfully pintucked shirts seem to be in fashion at the moment, so hopefully I won’t have too much trouble finding one that’s suitable.

Three weeks until my first recorder-playing performance in about eighteen years. Gosh.

New job, new waistcoat.

Style 1815, herringbone waistcoat

I start my new job next week, so I thought I should probably make myself something smart to wear. Hopefully I’ll have just enough time to finish this waistcoat and its matching trousers.

The pattern for this waistcoat is Style 1815 – it’s dated 1990, but I probably bought it in 1997 as I didn’t have my own sewing machine until then. There were no “shorten here for petite” markings on the pattern, so I just folded each piece to take about 2″ out of the length of the body. In hindsight I wish I’d taken a bit less out of the body and balanced it with a bit taken out of the shoulders, but hey. Maybe next time.

The fabric is a sort of a greyish-brown herringbone. I discovered after I’d bought and washed it that it has a high percentage of linen, so I’m hoping that I don’t end up looking too crinkly whenever I wear it.

All I need to do now is slip-stitch the lining side seams together, add the buckle at the back, and work out what I’m going to do about the buttons. My sewing machine absolutely refuses to sew buttonholes for me (despite performing this function perfectly every time I take it back to the shop to complain), so I tend to fasten everything with poppers, and then sew decorative buttons over the top. That may be the answer for this, too. I don’t want to spoil it at the last minute by taking a risk and hoping that maybe this time the buttonhole function might decide to work. Or I might just bite the bullet, and sew them by hand.

Skulls & Roses waistcoat.

Skulls & Roses waistcoat

This is what I’ve been up to today – making a skulls & roses waistcoat.

The fabric is by Alexander Henry, the print is “The Rose Tattoo”. 
The waistcoat itself is from an old “Style” (now Simplicity/New Look) pattern, from 1995. I think it’s one of the first patterns I bought when I started sewing.

I particularly like the sweetheart neckline, and I think this would look equally good worn on its own as it would over a smart shirt. 

Skulls & Roses waistcoat

I used the fabric that was left over from a skirt that I made last year. That’s why there’s a seam down the centre back – I didn’t have a large enough piece of fabric to cut the panel on a fold.

The lacing at the back gives the waistcoat a nice fit and makes it very comfortable to wear.

The only thing that’s missing now is the buttons. Despite my enormous button collection, I couldn’t find a set of ten that matched. Typical!