Mismatched Plaid

Stash busing 2014:  Loose-fitting Very Loose-Fitting Vest

Fabric:    2.3 metres

Buttons:  2

Pattern:   Butterick 6064

I loved the look of the draped neckline on this vest when the pattern came out. I'm not quite as excited about this pattern while sewing it up though. It is not a bad pattern, I just can't pin-point when my enthusiasm became deflated.

I love the fabric and goodness knows I love a plaid. So, that is not it. The fabric is a silk and cotton blend that I found at Fabricland. It has blue, beige and gold tones in it. I did a horrible job at matching the plaids at the side seam because I was too cheap to purchase extra fabric to match the plaid. I'm good with my cheapness. The pockets are designed to be at a slant so there was no way of matching them with the fashion fabric. The pattern does say that it is unsuitable for diagonals. I'm starting to think it might not be suitable for plaids as well.

The buttons were found in my button stash. I used a clear button for the interior button and I found a button for the exterior that picked up on the colours in the plaid. The armholes are finished with bias strips cut in the fashion fabric.

The pattern is nice. kAtheRine Tilton did a good job with the instructions and drafting this pattern around the corners. The miter corners were simple to construct and the pleats on the pockets are nice. It is a nice pattern--not exciting or challenging, just nice. 

I did shorten the vest significantly since I'm shorter than the average model that the Big Four pattern companies use. And I still feel it is long on me. Because of the length adjustment I waited until the vest was constructed before I sewed the pockets in place. I also left off pleats on the back section. They looked as if they were too close together on the pattern piece and after I checked out another version of this vest on Pattern Review, I decided to skip this step. Those were the only changes that I made to the pattern.

Maybe I shouldn't have skipped the back pleats because this looks big (or should I say shapeless?) on me. Maybe that is what is stopping me from loving this vest?  

I'm sure I will get a lot of wear from this vest as part of my work wardrobe as the pockets are my favourite feature. But I don't see myself making another one. It sort of feels like I'm wearing an apron, a fancy silk apron, instead of a vest. It will be perfect for those I-feel-fat days.  

Happy Sewing!