Thread Theory Belvedere Waistcoat in Duck Canvas and Broadcloth

This is a case of unselfish sewing, surprising though it may be.  😉  Today’s project is the Belvedere Waistcoat (vest) from Thread Theory Designs.

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I made this vest for my husband before Christmas, and we were both very happy with how it turned out.  In buying this pattern, I broke one of my norms, and bought a PDF pattern, which is not my preference, but after looking around at the available patterns, and even buying a Vogue pattern, we realized that this was the one my husband really wanted.  At this point, it is only available as a PDF.  This is a great pattern because there are two options:  an easy waistcoat, and a tailored waistcoat, so if you are a beginner or are looking for a quick vest pattern, you’re covered.  If you want to delve deeper and try your hand at something involving tailoring, welt pockets, etc., you’re also covered.

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We were inspired to use canvas by a friend’s vest, purchased from Historical Emporium, which is also made of canvas.  My husband isn’t very formal, so he liked the idea of a vest that was both detailed and sturdy.  I had leftover brown duck canvas from the first pair of cargo pants I made him (Thread Theory’s Jutland Pants), and so rather than making a muslin, we decided on a wearable muslin in this fabric.  I found an inexpensive poly/cotton broadcloth at JoAnn Fabrics to use as a lining as well as the buttons I needed.  We were ready!

Luckily the fit was great, and the only things we would do differently next time are to lengthen the torso by two inches since he is tall with a long torso, and take a small wedge (about 5/8″) out of the center back seam, tapering it to nothing 5″ up from the bottom.  Luckily the wedge adjustment was something we were able to do while this version was in progress, and it really improved the fit for him.  Now that I’m thinking about it, some higher quality interfacing would also be a good idea next time.

Like any time I sew for someone else, I usually procrastinate a bit.  I think I’m worried about the garment fitting and, in this case, I wasn’t sure how complex this pattern would be.  I was happy to see that when I finally got into it, if I just followed the directions step by step, I made it through just fine.

One part where I ran into a little bit of trouble (which was completely my own fault) was when I was clipping the seams where the front of the vest and the facing join. On one side I wasn’t very careful and I clipped through not only the seam allowance, but also the facing.

It took me a few deep breaths and some thought to figure out how to fix that one, since I didn’t want it to unravel.  I settled on sewing some bias tape over it, and it was fine.  (Thank goodness!)

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Next time I’ll be more careful.

I found it helpful when making the welt pockets (which went just fine, thankfully) to use a zipper foot when sewing over the little triangle tabs at the side.  This helped me get as close as possible to the base of the triangle.  I haven’t made many welt pockets before, so I was happy with how these turned out.

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We also decided to add in the optional side vents, which turned out well.

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We decided to leave the last (non-functioning) buttonhole off the bottom of the waistcoat.  It was his preference to only have functional buttonholes, and since this is for him, I wanted to make it just how he wanted it.

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I’m so happy to report that he loves it and it looks terrific on him!  When it was finished, and I saw it on him, I really felt it was something I could be proud of.  That’s a great feeling.

While I did get him to agree to let me snap a few pictures of him wearing it, I know it’s not his favorite thing to do, and I’m anxious to blog this project before I forget the details.  If I end up getting a good picture of him wearing it, I’ll update the post.  At some point, I hope to make him another version with the modifications we noted for next time using higher quality materials.

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