Vest 1 for Mike D - Simplicity 2870

Like I said, I finished the first vest for Mike D on Saturday night. The final fitting went well on Sunday afternoon. Mike D is a happy camper. I'm glad.

Review - Vest 1

Pattern Description: Men's lined vest with pocket variations.

Pattern Sizing: 34 to 52. I had to scale the pattern up to size 58.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes, I had to make a few adjustments based on sizing.

Were the instructions easy to follow? The instructions were easy. I didn't like the instructions for the welt pockets. I followed Debbie Cook's method. Everything else was pretty easy to follow.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I like this pattern. It was one of five that I showed to Mike as possible choices for a vest. This is the one he selected. No dislikes.


Fabric Used: I purchased a very nice wool gabardine from Vogue Fabrics. polyester lining and interfacing are from my stash.



Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: Several alterations were made. See previous post. No design changes. This Project Runway pattern offers a lot of variations for mixing and matching pockets, tabs and collars.

Pictures are wonderful. After the final fitting, I looked at the front and back photos and noticed that the back can be taken in just a little more. Not a big deal, but it's something that I noticed and will make that suggestions to Mike next time around.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? Yes. Mike would like a red vest. And yes I do recommend it to others. Once you have the sizing and fitting down pat, this is a simple pattern to follow with great results.

Conclusion: This is a great pattern to try.

First Client Project 2011- Simplicity 2870 Vest

Michael Davis has forever asked me about sewing for him. And my 'timid' response has been, "Well I don't really do sewing for men. I do 'lady' stuff. There is a whole other set of measuring/fitting requirements for men that I'm not accustom to." Well, in December, I finally broke down and decided to give sewing for men a try.

Michael asked if I could try sewing a vest. I said, "okay." So I looked through my pattern collections. Can you believe it, I had about four patterns for shirts and vests. Then I made a trip to JoAnn's to pick up the pattern that I selected to make Michael's vest.

For starters, I measured Mike. He's really big guy. He may be 7' tall. Really. I bought the largest size available and still needed to scale it up five sizes, about 58.

So I made a muslin that included pockets and back tab.




The fitting of the muslin was pretty good. Just a little tweaking needed.

The front darts needed to be moved over about 1 inch.



When I graded the pattern up, I added 3 inches at the waist to add length to it. It wasn't enough. After the fitting 3 more inches were added. Can you believe it?
At middle chest, starting at the armhole I decreased the wideth about 1 1/4 inch.



Then at center front I added about 1/2 inch.

I transferred all these changes to the pattern and came up with this. Still making sure the fitting was okay, I left the side lining complete. (not shown here). Now, I have only a few things to complete: understitching at the armholes and lower edge of the back, sewing buttonholes, buttons, sew side seam of lining and the final press. Done.





Update: I finished the vest Saturday night. Hopefully Mike will allow me to take a few pictures to post. Oops! I noticed that the two patch pockets are too high. The adjustments are in the now finished vest.

That's all for now!

Happy Sewing!
C