Last year when I went to the Autumn Quilt Festival at Chilford, I bought some fabric to make Mr F a waistcoat to wear when he goes shooting. Well I had put the fabric away and and busied myself making bags and quilts, and then Mr F reminded me he's going on a very special shoot on Tuesday - the one where he gets all dressed up in his posh shooting coat and his best moleskin trousers and freshly polished boots and his smart new waistcoat - what?? His smart new handmade waistcoat?? Oh dear - I hadn't made it yet!!.....
.....a few months ago my friend Sherry had given me a pattern for this waistcoat - (McCalls 2447). She had made one for her son and it looked FABULOUS. I was a bit wary of making this - for a start I don't really like sewing clothes as I'd much rather be making bags and runners and quilts, and secondly, although I have an O-level in dressmaking, I really don't like sewing button-holes. Anyway, as I was working to a bit of a deadline, I set too and soon had the pattern all laid out ready for cutting - I can't remember the last time I actually used scissors to cut anything, as I normally use my rotary cutter for cutting fabric! and this was the first time for ages that I wasn't using ¼" seams or using my walking foot.....
.....once I had matched notches and pinned fabric, my Bernina was soon whizzing along, sewing shoulder seams and darts and facings. (Philippa Naylor would've been proud of how flat my curved facings were - and it's amazing what fantastic results a bit of brute force and a steam iron can produce)!! Now as I said before, I really really don't like sewing button-holes - or rather they don't like me. However my Bernina soon had me converted as there were 5 of these dastardly things - and they all look PERFECT thanks to the automatic button-hole maker.....
.....I ran out of "duck" fabric for the back lining so used some left-over Moda from my stash. And I even sneaked a label into the side seam. Oh yippee my button holes are the perfect size for the buttons!.....
.....as you can see, I used the "ducks" fabric for the back, and I even managed to sew an adjustable buckle on too.....
.....and finally here is the very handsome Mr F wearing a stunning waist coat made by his incredibly talented wife - although Mr F didn't make a very good dressmakers dummy - he shouted if I jabbed a pin in him, and he complained about the accuracy of the tape measure when it revealed his girth was greater than his chest - hence this is rather a snug fit. Mr F will look VERY smart when he's shooting those pheasants and partridges ;)
RSS Feed
