Throwback Vest

 In the previous vest post, I concluded by mentioning that I might make a 1990s-style vest someday.

And here we are

I used Simplicity 9630 from 1990

View 1, cut in the smallest size--for an Authentic Early 1990s Vest Fit, it should have been cut at least a size larger.  It is not, however, the early 1990s.

I'm pretty sure I mostly wore my teenage vests open, to show off the variety of belts I had, shirts always precisely tucked into pants.  To reiterate: it is not now the early 90s.

This project was easy to sew, but did benefit from a lot of careful pressing, to make sure the lining was coaxed to the inside.  I chose to top stitch all around the edges and arm openings to make sure the lining stayed inside, and...well...it's me. "Top stitch = true" is my default setting.

A common feature of the early '90s 'tapestry' vest was also metal buttons, often in filigree or stamped designs.  And I thought I'd use some of those in this project, but, when I reached for the bag of metal buttons, I got distracted by these mustardy faux horn buttons at the top of the next bag. I did look at metal buttons, but the color match with these was too good to resist. (Also, I have a lot of these, so using three didn't reduce their number so much that there wouldn't be plenty left for some other project.  That kind of thing matters to me.)

I also picked up some Fray Check to apply to the buttonholes before cutting them open, in hope they'd be less prone to loose threads once cut.  I have no memory of ever using Fray Check before, so I wasn't sure how much to use.  Probably should have been more.  The lining fabric is staying in place in the buttonholes, though, so it's probably a matter of needing more Fray Check for heavier fabric.  I do want to try to remember to use Fray Check on all buttonholes from now on.

And the lining is the same fabric I used for the previous vest.  I was prepared to use a different fabric, but this green/cyan color shifty stuff coordinated really well with the shell fabric colors, so, hey, why not.

The front and back of this vest are both darted, with the back tie set into the back dart.  I did an extra line of stitching through all layers in the dart to (I hope) add extra strength.  The extra strength extra stitching is concealed inside the lining.

I could probably have made the front without any darts and gotten a fairly authentic '90s fit, too. Again: not the '90s.

This was a fast and easy project that I probably would have been very frustrated by when I was a teen first learning to sew, due to the darts, and setting the tie into the darts, and dealing with the lining (which I just realized I haven't yet slip stitched closed), and having less experience with the iron wouldn't've helped, either.

I'm not sure how much I'll wear this, but it's a fun tribute to my young self.