I have the fabric and pattern picked out for this year's Halloween Patchwork Project, but I don't quite have the drive to start working on it yet, so I decided I'd do something fast and easy yesterday.
I was initially going to use the purple sequin fabric to make a cardigan, but I didn't like any of the rib knits I had in combination with it. By the time I admitted the cardigan wasn't going to happen, I was committed to using some of the odd areas of the purple sequin, and settled on a vest. I got a lovely reddish purple lining fabric last time I visited the craft thrift store, but I was already starting to feel ambivalent about this project and didn't want to use part of a larger piece. I poked around my lining fabric stash and found a small amount of thrifted dark wine...acetate? It did have a bit of that distinct acetate smell (along with a lingering hint of cigarette.) I had thought of using it for a vest years ago that never got made, so it seemed right to use it for this vest that was going to get made, whether I wanted it or not.
I wanted something really easy, so I used Simplicity 9630 and skipped every dart and tie. Cutting things out was complicated by the irregular ends of the sequin fabric needing the front pieces to be cut separately, and by the lining fabric needing to be pieced.
This is my Pieced Lining Era, apparently.
Also featured in the above photo: the machine stitching to close the lining, and the stop and start back stitching for the top stitching all around the vest edges.
This sequin fabric really is easy to sew; I figure it's because the base fabric is 100% cotton--it's not a sturdy cotton knit, but it's nice enough to sew like the lovely natural fiber it is.
I didn't want to potentially cut through the stitches holding the sequins, so I used four part snaps for the closures, making sure to poke the holes between the lines of stitching. I set the top halves first, then laid the front opening pieces over each other with the front edges aligned, right sides together, and used a white tailor pencil crammed through the fabric into the divot of the center snap holes to mark the placement for the other side.
There is interfacing in the center front edges of this, and I honestly probably should have interfaced the entirety of the front pieces, just to give them a little more heft.
Again, the base knit fabric is not bad, but it is very light. The lining fabric does make up for that a little, by being ever so slightly heavier than the usual lining fabric.
And, yeah, I could have ironed it more. I accidentally hit it with too high heat on one spot in the lining that made me a bit shy about pressing the rest. The wrinkles will either relax over time, or be joined by more.
I didn't add arts or a back tie/gather because my body shape doesn't really benefit from those, and, also, a lot of the vests I had as a kid had no darts for shaping (although they did have ties and buckles, but I think I generally left those loose. It was the early 90s--everything was loose...well...everything except the bike shorts worn under the loose stuff.) I tried this vest on and I think it would look fine on a body not shaped like mine, so I jokingly offered it to The Child, who did say, "Yes, I want it. Disco."
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