Do you wanna know how I got these scars?

Halloween rolled around and an invite to a party rolled in to B's inbox (or whatever the social media equivalent is). I don't get invited to parties, you see. But B gets quite a few! It's socially acceptable to have a costume for these kinds of gathering and he was searching his brain to find something quick and easy.

Suddenly the thought of a blazer he got for the 2017 office Christmas party popped into his mind. velvety and purple. Blue shirt? sure. We've got the makings of a Dark Knight Joker. But no green waistcoat. And the party's tonight!

Here's where Katrina jumps in. Custom green waistcoat fromscratch in a couple of hours? Well, I had no other plans for the day. Best get the fabric scissors out.

The Pattern

I hacked the Thread Theory Newcastle (M) for this. There was lots of "fit as you go" and I did make a muslin, but it was always a slapdash job. I redrafted the neckline, but with hindsight should have done so differently. It sits very wide on B's shoulders and communicates more "style" than "classic".  In fairness, I think I fell in to a common trap.

I used the pattern because it was already printed and in the right ballpark. In future I'd like to use an actual pattern and some proper design details. Thread Theory has the Belvedere waistcoat, doesn't it?

The Fabric

All scraps, which is partly why I was keen to volunteer for the waistcoat. The green is a baby cord from Edinburgh Fabrics, leftover from some trousers. The oriental fabric is an old gift and most of it lives on the inside of my molly waistcost. The plain blue came from my JP trip, though I'm not sure if I've used it before. It was good to dig all of this out of my stash.

I can't decide if I got the oriental pattern upside-down. I was sure I was right when cutting out, but now it looks like the fans are the wrong way up - perhaps they're not supposed to tumble down?

Construction

All of the construction was fast and dirty really. I added slits to the seams to allow a bit of costume flexibility. The buttons came from B's stash. I think it turned out pretty nicely for 4 hours of work (though I bet Patrick and Esme would say otherwise)

Bye.