Sewing my first Formal Waistcoat... (Part 1)

I'm terribly behind in posting these pictures from last Saturday. This week I'm hoping to add the buttons and finish the back attachment so that the vest will be complete. You can expect a follow-up post to this one in the near future :)

For those who are curious as to why the fabric is different from my preview, the reason is simple: this particular project was my first attempt, my experiment if you will, to make sure I understand the pattern before using the cotton pique material. I used a type of polyester fabric that I happened to have lying around instead of the muslin, because I thought it looked much nicer. It also has the added benefit of being stain-resistant. (liquids bead up on it) The only drawback, is that the material frays like nothing else, so I'll have to be careful using it.

Laying out the pattern pieces... I traced them onto tissue paper rather than use the originals, as you can see both the original and copied pieces. This allows me to reuse the original later in a different size should I wish to.

Facing cut out

Main body cut out... (notice my fabric wasn't wide enough... I fixed this later)

Cutting out the fusible interfacing

Preparing to cut out the lining

The lining was rather tricky to cut out and to determine later which side was the correct side, as they seem almost identical. (maybe they are!)

Getting ready to stitch the welts (the little pocket-like things on the front of the waistcoat)

Welts prior to attachment to front of vest

One completed welt on the right, and first step of attachment on the left. The welts are attached upside down, then folded up to hide stitching and then edge-stitched on the sides to create the pocket effect.

Adding the fusible interfacing

Both sides with fusible interfacing

Sewing the facings to the lining... this part was confusing, because the seam between the lining and facing actually are almost mirror images of each other, yet when stitched, they line up perfectly

Surprise, it worked!

Attaching the main body to lining/facings

Here you can see both sides (main body and facing/lining) being attached inside out

Sewing the material... this was the tricky part, because some pieces didn't want to line up quite right... my second side worked much better than the first too

Notice the front pieces have extra ends attached to fill in for fabric being too small...

Sewing can be quite messy... I had thread and fabric everywhere... and pins!

Turning the first side right side out

It's double-sided!

Back folded over to show contrast with front

Ironing the first side

Turning the second side

Almost done!

Laying it out on ironing table

The hardest part with turning were the ends up at the top, because it's so tight, it took a while of pinching and pulling to get it all done

Before ironing

Un-ironed vs ironed side

I folded over the facings and ironed them flat to create the lapels

Finished product!

Close-up of edges... notice how my solution for extending my fabric worked out rather nicely :)

Front and back

Close up of lower front

I rather like the contrast between the lining and the front... :)