September 2008 – May 2009
A matching vest for the windowpane pants. It’s Laughing Moon’s vest pattern, #109, “Men’s Frock Coat with Vests”, view A.
My leftover wool suiting from the pants project was exactly enough for a vest. I hadn’t originally planned on making a matching vest. Having one yard left at the end of a lengthy project is my strategy. And I was forced to sacrifice matching the collars to make it work. Luckily, I didn’t have to recut anything – including a welt – or there really wouldn’t have been enough.
I ignored the pattern’s grain line, and lined up my windowpanes along center front instead. The fronts are interfaced with a knit fusible. A woven fusible was added to center front, pocket openings, welts, and collar. In the past, I’ve always skipped the armhole darts in the View B shawl collar vests. The chest padding seemed to fill everything out. But this vest doesn’t have that padding, so I wonder if I should have added the darts. Maybe the wrinkles are just fine… at any rate… The vest’s back is silk taffeta and the lining is cotton lawn. Buttons are brass.
Aaron’s wearing the vest with summer weight LM California Pants: one black pair in black cotton twill, one cream pair in a linen/cotton blend suiting. In the picture above, the shirt is being worn inside-out. This was completely overlooked by both of us at the time. I only realized the mistake later because of the twisted cuff placket.
