Vince's needlework and occasional drawings

I finished the black wool waistcoat that had been on The Pile for at least a year! I actually finished it a couple weeks ago, but I've been busy moving.

I ended up recutting the back, because I didn't want to leave it unlined and I also didn't want to put the lining over the pieces I'd accidentally felled & hemmed. I've saved the first back and will use it for another, more lightweight waistcoat. I've already worn this one a lot, and want to make a couple more wool waistcoats before the winter is over so I can have some variety.

Working on an unfinished waistcoat from The Pile that I cut out at least a year ago, and I had intended to line the left front and do the buttonholes through all the layers, but I forgot so now I'll have to do the pieced lining. That's ok though, it's one I'll wear a lot, and it'll be nice to have a cleaner looking lining around the buttonholes.

I also forgot that I cut a back lining, and I've already felled the centre back seam and hemmed the vent, but the front is such a thick wool that it really would be good to have a back lining...

Here's the monster print waistcoat next to some of the original drawings. This bit of fabric was part of a fill-a-yard I got to proof a bunch of Spoonflower designs, and I just barely had enough material for the waistcoat, so I couldn't do any pattern matching on the pocket flaps. That's ok though, the monsters can wander wherever they like. (There are 24 monsters in total, and I have 8 other coloured versions of the monster pattern on my Spoonflower.)

The buttons are covered in a quilting cotton from my stash, and the lining is a dark brown cotton bedsheet from the thrift store. The back is coarse linen twill from Pure Linen Envy.

Finished my monster print waistcoat yesterday!

I put some topstitching around one waistcoat pocket flap and then foolishly sewed them both on without topstitching the other, but thankfully it was just a running stitch so it wasn't too hard to add. This is made with one of the monster patterns from my Spoonflower and it's almost finished! It's got more machine sewing than I usually do in a waistcoat, and I've just got hand finishing left to do now.

I finished a thing! This 1780's ship printed waistcoat fabric was a birthday gift last year and it's been sitting half finished in The Pile since last winter, but is done now. The fabric is from Summer sun stories, with the exception of the button covers, which I painted to be more like the ones on the original waistcoat and to fit my tiny button moulds. I should also note that I tea dyed the fabric to make the white less bright.

It's partly hand sewn and partly machine sewn, and I'm really happy with the fit! The only problem is that the shoulders are a bit wrinkled, especially the right one, which is lower than my left shoulder and causes wrinkling in all my collared waistcoats. I added a bit of padding to that side, which helped to smooth it out.

(I look kind of sad in these photos but it's just because I was tired when I took them.)

Oh I forgot to post a link to the blog post on that unlined green linen waistcoat I made earlier this year!

I'm still awfully behind on blogging, I think because there isn't much to say about a sewing project when I've made almost the exact same thing at least once already.

I forget when I started this waistcoat, and it's one of many many unfinished projects, but I do hope I get it finished soon. I made a little progress on it today. It's going to be double breasted and I haven't currently got a double breasted waistcoat. (I made one in 2011, and another in 2013, but they were not good and also would not fit me today.)

I should have mentioned in yesterday’s post that the reason fusing Werther’s wrappers to fabric is a terrible idea is because even on a low setting the heat from the iron damages the gold print, which makes it wear off really easily. I was very careful while sewing and still ended up with some little bare patches, and more of it flakes off every time I touch it! It’s also very stiff and plastic-y, which is not a pleasant feature for a waistcoat to have.

And the reason I made a 1770′s waistcoat covered in Werther’s wrappers in the first place is because there’s a 1774 book called The Sorrows of Young Werther and the main character wears a yellow waistcoat, so I spent about 40-50 hours sewing a bad pun. I don’t even like the book. 

I’d had the idea for quite a while, but wasn’t motivated to actually make it until I decided it would make an interesting youtube video, and I think it’s my best video so far.

Still very behind on blogging, but I finished a post on the Werther's Wrapper waistcoat. (For anyone who missed it, yes they're real wrappers fused to the fabric. Please never do that, it's a terrible idea.) While I was filming it I forgot to take many photos, and the blog post doesn't have as much information as the video I made about it.

New video, and I swear there’s a somewhat logical reason for my awfully impractical choice of materials. I held off on posting pictures of this till I had the video all finished because I feel like it’s funnier with context.

Here’s the unlined summer linen waistcoat, which I finished a while ago. I drafted a new 1770′s/early 80′s waistcoat pattern because the one I drafted back in 2014 really doesn’t fit me anymore. I think I’ll have to tweak the shoulders of the pattern a bit, but overall I’m happy with the fit!

(I don’t know if green linen is historically accurate, but I made this to wear as everyday clothes so I don’t much care.)

(Linen from here!)

I've started yet another waistcoat, this time an unlined linen one for summer. I decided to add decorative buttonholes to the pocket flaps and I think they turned out pretty nice.

Finished the buttonholes on my waistcoat. (Which is one of the earlier steps, most of the rest of it isn’t done.)

I noticed that the bottom few buttons on my everyday brown wool waistcoat were getting worn out (I usually only button up the bottom 4) so I cut them off and switched their positions with 4 less worn out ones higher up. I do have some scraps of the wool I can use to re-cover the buttons if necessary, but this ought to make them last a while longer before I have to do that.