Vogue 8048 - Men's Waistcoats: Part II

I wanted to post a few details about the waistcoats - mostly because I use my blog as a notebook and reminder of what I have knitted or sewn, and also because you may be interested!  The original post is here.

The pattern itself is very simple, just five main pieces, and the pockets.  So you would think that I wouldn't be able to mess that up.  And you would be wrong!!!  But more on that later!

Pockets:

This is the first jacket and the fabric is a suiting weight cotton - lovely fabric.  I have made one pair of pants for myself out of them and will be . . . . oh yes, pockets!  I followed the Vogue instructions for the double welt pockets.  I marked, tailor tacked, chalked and sewing with absolute precision - you can see the 'dog's dinner' that resulted in these next pics.  What a bummer.  Mr. SDSC couldn't see the problem (bless him, he is a keeper), so I just determined to try a different method for the next versions.

I used this tutorial for single welt pockets.  I am happier with the results although they are not perfect.  If you have an 'idiot proof' way of doing welts, I am all ears!  Please let me know!

I've also made myself a skirt and a pair of trousers out of this houndstooth!  Sadly it is all gone now.  It drapes beautifully so I was sorry to see it go.

Oops. This last photo is a bit wobbly!  The fabric here is black denim.  A dream to sew with.

Oh, and I finished off with some fun fabric on the pocket lining that is back to back with the front of the waistcoat.  The pocket lining that you can just see above the welt, is the fashion fabric as it is likely that that would show.  And it does.

Back Ties

To me, the back ties are part and parcel of a man's waistcoat, and the pattern has you sew them into the side seam, then sew them down onto the back piece about 3" in from the side seam.  Like this:

There was just too much 'hanging down' for me, and the tie itself was also stretched to it's limit, so for the next two versions I shortened the ties and attached them in the back darts.  I checked a couple of other patterns and that was what they did.  If it was good enough for them - it was good enough for me!

Lining

The lining consists of a back piece, the front facing which is interfaced and cut from the fashion fabric, and the front side piece which is cut from the lining fabric.  It is all 'bagged' and sewn together with a gap left in one of the side lining seams, and then edge and top-stitched to within an inch of it's life:

Except that with the houndstooth I cut the front side panel (seen above as the black lining) out of the houndstooth fabric.  Doh!  I didn't have any more houndstooth, so for that version the lining is edge to edge, and appears to work well.  The interfacing had to be adhered to the front piece of the waistcoast rather than the facing, but it does not appear to have caused any issues.

Buttons and Label

There is nothing much to say about the buttons, just plain black ones.  As far as the buttonholes were concerned, my Pfaff let me down again - I don't know what the problem is with the automatic buttonholer, I just cannot get consistent buttonholes with it, so I resorted to my Singer Featherweight and the buttonholer (from the 50's/60's) attachment and it produced fabulous buttonholes.  These are 5/8" buttons and holes, but I'll probably make the holes larger next time, as Mr. SDSC is losing some dexterity in his fingers :(

Nothing else left to do other than sew on one of my labels 'Private Collection by twotoast' that I get a real kick out of using!

Phew, that was quite a lot of info - anymore top tips' for waistcoats?

Christmas Gift Sewing (and a bit of knitting!)

Well, now that the big man has come and gone, I can share with you some gifts that I made for Christmas.

My lovely Sister-in-Law back is traveling back to the UK next month, and I thought that she could use a hand with her packing . . . . . so I made her a couple of the box bags that I am currently somewhat obsessed with:

And a cute little jewelry pouch based upon this free pattern in Craftsy.  The pattern was a little too big for my needs, so I made it smaller - opened up it is about 9" x 6". There are two zippered pouches, a piece of felt that you can use to hold your studs, and some ties for rings.  Pretty neat right?  It is a very clever design.

Miss Sharon also mentioned the other day that some socks that I had knitted for her (ages ago) keep her toes really toasty, so I managed to get a pair finished for her just in time for Christmas:

The colour of this yarn (Estelle Sockittome) is fabulous, and the dye pattern is very pretty, but boy, this yarn is splitty. I was constantly having to drop stitches, frog back, and then pick them up again as this yarn does NOT play nice with 2.5mm needles. Funnily enough I am knitting a cowl on larger needles in another colourway - and that is fine, but these socks were a NIGHTMARE because of the yarn. Such a pity as the colours are gorgeous.

The stitch definition is good, and has a lovely twist - which is just as well as the yarn is a single ply. I’m not to sure how long these socks will last - only time will tell … .

Next up was a pair of socks my Mr. for Christmas:

This time I used Knit Picks Felici - a lovely soft yarn that Knit Picks are no longer making/selling.  If you can't have Christmas coloured socks at Christmastime - I don't know when you can!

Finally, I made some fabulous little holders to hold your hot bowls when they come out of the microwave:

I'm not sure if you can see in these pics, but there is a dart on each side of the square that pinches in the fabric, making a bowl shape.  The above musical holder was a gift for my Dad, and the Christmas fabric ones are for my brother and SIL.

All the fabric, batting and thread are cotton, so the holders can be microwaved with the bowls on top of them.  I made another black/red/white musical one for Mr. SDSC and he has been using it all week for his Weetabix in hot milk every morning . . . . . much better than a folded up tea towel!

I've also made a couple more waistcoats - a black one with red lining for my father (forgot to get a pic of that, and he now has it at home) and a black/brown houndtooth for Mr. SDSC - photos to follow.

How about you - did you get any Christmas sewing/knitting in this year?

Vogue 8048 - Men's Waistcoats

It is not very often that Mr. SDSC asks me to make anything for him.  I've knitted him some socks, a few shirts and a dressing gown, but that's about it.  So when he asked for a waistcoat - I was happy to oblige.  The search for a pattern was very brief - there really isn't much around for men, and even less for waistcoats - and the winner was Vogue 8048, that I happen to have in stock!

Source

I chose view A, (diagonal print, top right of photo above), as I liked the higher cut neckline.  I didn't want it to end up looking like a 1970's polyester suit reject!

So are some pics - the first one was made from a great suiting weight cotton that has narrow grey stripes:

 

Photos are a pic of a problem at this time of the year - there is usually about 12" of snow on the ground, but we are having an unusually mild start to the winter, so I dragged Mr. SDSC outside ans asked him to pose!  Look at the gorgeous blue sky!

The fit was acceptable - I probably could fiddle around and adjust the shoulders, and maybe take some width out of the back, but Mr. SDSC says that it is comfortable, so that is that!

The pockets are a double welt, and I made rather a pig's ear of them.  There are two issues - I didn't clip far enough into the corners before turning the facing, and I was not accurate enough with the actual welts themselves.  Fortunately, the fabric is dark enough that you can't see . . . . but I made changes in the next versions!

This time the pockets have a single welt and look muuuuuuuuch better!

This hounds-tooth fabric is gorgeous, and I used it to make this skirt, and these trousers.  I had just enough left over for the waistcoat above, that is being worn with a shirt I made last year.

I finished off with some black denim.  Lovely!  He loves his 'bespoke' waistcoats, and when my Dad came round for his Sunday dinner today, he tried one on and it fits pretty good, so I will make one for him too!

I did take a few details pics and have some more info to share with you about these waistcoats, and I'll drop them in another post later in the week.  Before I go though, a quick 'out take' - the boys wanted to get in on the act!

More details on PatternReview.

Socks and Colours

I shared with you some box bags that I recently made, and I usually use them to house my sock knitting projects.  They are the perfect size for 100gms yarn and a circular needles.  These are the last three pairs that came off the needles:

The yarn is called Katia Darling and there are more details on my Ravelry project page.

This next pair uses Crazy Zauberball.

There is a very long colour repeat on this yarn - and as you have probably noticed, I don't care much for perfectly matching socks!  More details here.

I then finished off these lovely stripey socks that remind me of the seaside - gorgeous beachy colours:

I used Knit Picks Felici yarn for these socks,  The yarn is fabulously soft and a dream to knit with.  The yarn was discontinued, but they have 6 colourways in stock, so runveryquick and get some . . . like I did!  I also have a few other colour combos that will surface in the future!

I had some other fun with colours this weekend, and got the results back from having my 'colours' done.  This was all the range in the '80's, but I never had them done.  Fast forward a few years, and Mr. SDSC kindly booked me a session for my birthday.  Here are my colours, based upon my eye, skin and hair colouring:

I know that it looks like pretty much every colour you could think of, but if you looks carefully, there is no black or white, only one purple and one yellow, no fushia or pink (the pink above is actually more peachy).  And lots of green.  I rarely wear green, so will now start introducing it into my wardrobe and see what the results are!  Incidentally, I am a 'True Lazurli Spring'.  Interestingly enough, my 'best basic red', is a perfect match for the cardi below - and I always get lots of comments when I wear this!

 
Co-incidentally, I picked up some lovely fabric this week - an absolute bargain at $5/m from Fabricland and it has 4 of my colours in it.  I plan on making a cardi and vest top with it - so by all accounts, It should suit me very well!

What do you think of this process?  Utter bunkem, or a useful tool when is comes to looking your best?

Bras & Bags

So. Winter has arrived in these parts, and that means lots of indoors activities . . . and sewing! And knitting! Hurrah. First, let me show you the weather evidence:

Very pretty, that's for sure!

I thought hat it was time to make some more undies, and two more bras have made their was into my lingerie drawer.  Who doesn't need a new white bra?  This was made using the Shelley pattern from Bra-Makers Supplies in Hamilton, Ontario.  With the exception of the lace, all the fabrics and notions were also from Bra-Makers Supplies.  The lace was already in my stash, and actually started off as a gathered lace.  I took off the band that gathered the lace, gave it a good pressing - and voila - some fabulous flat lace for my new bra!

Next up was a racy, red one.  Again, all supplies as above.

I also made a couple more box bags for my sock knitting.  And yes I have that many pairs of socks on the go!

The bag above is a bit more peachy in colour, and looks so delicate.

And who can resist the sausage dogs?  The lovely dotty lining matches perfectly and I am very pleased with these. . . . and I have some socks to share with you next time as well! 

How about you - do you have 'cold weather' projects that you are working on - or 'hot weather' projects for my Southern Hemisphere buddies?!