Monday, April 5, 2010

Quickie

In the two years Mr. N has been with a fashion designer, he has never received a custom made garment. I'm not too great with the menswear, granted, but it was high time he reaped the rewards of being so incredibly supportive of my craft habit. Quite a while ago we picked out some fabric for a suit vest for him, but said vest never got made. I asked him several weeks ago what he wanted for his birthday, and he said, "Why don't you just make me that vest?" Since he had a vest he already liked and fit well, I committed the designer sin of simply copying the pattern. I must say, it was pretty great. So easy! Here's the original:
Please note the unsmiling "before" picture.
I simply copied the shape of the vest pieces onto paper for the pattern and made a muslin to ensure proper fit. Here's the muslin:

"You didn't get my skiier pajama pants in the shot, did you?"

"Wait, did Butler just score?"

Oops, there he goes to watch the game. Oh well.
The vest construction itself was simple. The challenge came in the form of buttonholes. Since my buttonholer is broken, I decided to do bound buttonholes. Here they are finished:

They're by no means perfect (or perfectly spaced), but they came out pretty well. Definitely a challenge. I hand finished them on the back:

If you're having trouble seeing, click on the picture for a closer view.
Finally, after a day of hand finishing at work, it was done.
The "after" picture:

Yes, he is looking very dapper. And to my great delight, he wore it twice last week!
Happy Birthday, darling. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me.

Coming soon: The conclusion of the yellow dress. I can't wait to show you how it turned out!

3 comments:

  1. Absoultely LOVE the vest...not to mention all the great photos of Mr N and his creative wife! Those button holes are IMPRESSIVE! We miss you both and love you bunches...betsy + ed

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  2. You can say that again: It was about time for me to reap the benefits of your craft. Now I'm hoping that a summer shirt can make it on the docket...

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  3. So So fab! I love the dapper Mr. N in his vest. Great job, b! Mr. N, you'd better get your request in early--I think the docket might get filled pretty quickly, especially with all the nice weather I hear you're having!! Jealous....

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