Waistcoat w/ lapels?

[Piobair]

Anyone know of any vendors in N. America who will make a waistcoat with lapels? I know House of Labhran makes them, but I was hoping for something a little cheaper. Failing that... How hard would it be for me, someone with basic sewing skills, to make a waistcoat?

[sydnie7]

Waistcoats/vests are very easy. Adding lapels is also pretty easy, at least the flat kind you see on most vests. They are not like coat/jacket lapels that are part of the body and fold over -- they are just an extra piece of (finished/lined) fabric that lays flat on the front of the vest. Here is the thread showing one that I made on the bias, I'd recommend starting with a plain weave or tweed. I know there are some other threads as well and makers who are sure to chime in!

[Downunder Kilt]

Matt at New House Highland can have one made for you. I also believe that some members on here have made some in the past. David Thorpe made some fabulous waistcoats, but I cannot remeber if they had a lapel. The Gentlemens Emporiun has lapelled waistcoats but they are plain coloured, though a couple are tweed

[usonian]

Hopefully someone else can chime in with a vendor recommendation, but as far as sewing goes a basic waistcoat is not that hard, especially if you make a pattern without pockets (or mock pockets). When sewing your own to wear with a kilt you may want to shorten the main front and back pattern pieces by a few inches; you can do a quick test cut out and pinning of those pieces with inexpensive muslin and try it on with your kilt to see how much you might want to shorten it.

I made Simplicity's 4762 pattern, variant A (sort of a pseudo-shawl collar; the collar is only on the front of the vest) earlier this year and it went together pretty quickly. (I would put myself in the "experienced beginner" category when it comes to garments.) That same pattern has a variation with notched lapels.

[sydnie7]

We also had a discussion a while back about patterns most suitable for tartan vests. The Simp4762 has front darts for shaping which will "disturb" your tartan. I don't remember if I listed the pattern that I used, but you might want to look for one without darts if you think you'll ever use it for a tartan version.

Or just live with the front darts, it's a good excuse for the outer half of your pocket welts to not match up! :o)

[brewerpaul]

Not too hard to make, I made this one. Ill look up the pattern later and post it. It's from an 1860's frock caot and vest set.

ok Laughing moon 109 pattern.

[OC Richard]

A few weeks ago I was in a mall and one of the ordinary shops... Macys or Nordstrom... had several tweed waistcoats with lapels, by various current "name brands". Seems that they're popular right now.

These were very traditional-looking tweed waistcoats, nothing modern about them.

I picked this one up on the sale rack at JC Penny a couple years ago

[OC Richard]

Here are nice ones

http://www.oldfrontier.com/ofccnotchlapel.htm

http://www.riverjunction.com/Vest--N...rand_p_57.html

Just Google 'notch lapel vest' and a large number of sellers/makers come up.

[Tobus]

I have a couple of waistcoats with lapels that I bought locally from "old west" type stores. The brand is Frontier Classics.

http://www.wwmerc.com/cgi-bin/Catego...920&type=store

The problem with buying waistcoats that aren't made specifically for kilts is that they can be a little too long in the front, interfering with the sporran. But if you buy a straight-cut bottom, it tends to work OK, depending on your torso length.

[BCAC]

You might like to look HERE (CLICKY LINKY).