Steve's new vest is officially complete! I'm pretty happy with it even though there's some adjustments that I'll make to the next vest. The Italian wool from Britex was marvelous to work with but the silk was a bear. It slipped while I was cutting it, while pinning it and while sewing it. Perhaps next time I'll reserve it just for the vest back and find something else to line the interior. I started out with McCall's 2447 but in the end had so many pattern corrections that I would have been better off just taking measurements and drafting the pattern from scratch. I now have my pattern making reference guide from college so I'll have a refresher if I opt to do that next time.
Steve likes it and that's what is most important. Doesn't he look great in that blue?! What a sweetie to pose for me even though he needed to get going for a business meeting.
The changes I want to make are to take in the darts at the bottom so that it tucks in toward the waistband a bit more. I'll also lengthen the darts by an inch or so. Not sure how they got so low in the first place. Also I'll add more length to the center back but the length in the front is very good. Finally I think that I'll widen the shoulders a bit to keep it a bit more in proportion. I like the 5-buttons very much and will maintain that in the future. Finally I may change the back belt into a back elastic tunnel. I think I'd like it to be sewn out of the front fabric, a contrast for added detail. Ultimately this one just needs a really good press and it'll look a bit better in the front. My iron isn't the greatest at giving good steam.
The major problem I had in the end was that my trusty Bernina Aurora 440 had a major hiccup with making buttonholes. They used to work brilliantly but somewhere between then and now my buttonhole foot died. The machine repair shop re-calibrated it and managed to get it to work for them but when I got home it said "nay, nay" and wouldn't sew the second side parallel to the first. Hopefully it can be warrantied but if not I'll have to order an expensive replacement foot. This is the first time something hasn't functioned on my Bernina. Other than that it's been a dream machine. Fortunately my sewing repair shop let me come in and use one of their floor model Berninas to sew my buttonholes. Less than fifteen minutes later and I was home sewing on the buttons. Et voila', a vest is created. So what are you sewing this week? Also do you have any tips for sewing silk?
