First of Many

Here I am with the first Finished Object off the sewing pile:

Apologies for the artificial lighting - it's as dark as twilight today because it's pouring rain. Typical Vancouver autumn weather, the kind we really haven't seen much of up to now.

I'm calling this my Bonus Vest because I barely managed to cut it out from my Italian wool pinstripe after already cutting most of the pieces for the shirt/jacket. The pattern is Katherine Tilton's B5891 View C. This has not one but two really useful and adaptable patterns in one envelope and this vest is my fourth piece from it. (It obviously no longer owes me anything.) I modified the original asymmetrical jacket by using only the right front and mirroring it. The collar is one quarter of the original, mirrored for the other three-quarters. However I randomly pieced it as well as the pockets in order to get enough fabric for the pattern pieces.

I went for patch pockets instead of the inseam ones. They're lined with my damselflies batik cotton which made them just a tad heavy for the fine wool. I had to apply the pockets right next to the princess seam for support but it seems to have worked out well enough. Otherwise this fabric was quite lovely to sew and press flat. Though you might be able to see in the photo that it bounces back somewhat afterward. I also used a bias strip of the batik cotton to face the back neck and here the firmness gives the collar some useful support. The armholes used self-bias strips instead for more flexibility.

So next I plan to start on the shirt/jacket, Marcy Tilton's V8709 View A, from this same fabric. Hopefully the sewing will benefit from all this previous experience! The dingy weather is certainly conducive to staying in the studio and sewing up a storm. It's been so wet that I still haven't dug the madder bed but I did get some yarn and wool roving mordanted in anticipation. Baby steps.

And yes, if you were wondering I did post this with my iPad. Just because I can...