XMarks vest on the bias

[sydnie7]

Clip straight along most of the opening, branching out to little "Y" cuts at each end. You'll notice my stitching doesn't go all the way to the end of my marked rectangle -- pockets ended up being 4 in. rather than 4.5 -- this is a result of what we call "Sydnie math" and you can just ignore it, thank you very much.



Trim and grade the seam allowance (I cut the pocket patch close to stitching, left the tartan as is).



Turn and press. . .



Then topstitch as close to the opening as you can.

[sydnie7]

Pocket opening with the welt pinned beneath it. Now, if I were Really Good (like Lady C or paulhenry good), the welt would have been sewn into the lower part of the pocket opening and become an integral part of the whole turned piece. But I am Not That Good, so I'm doing it this way.



The welt hides the pocket opening, and still aligns with the vest front.



Remember to hold the pocket patch out of the way when pinning and stitching the welt in place!

Welt stitched in place and pressed upward, over the pocket opening. Notice that the grey lines have gotten a little wonky, but the white and yellow lines are OK.



Here we are back inside, looking at the pocket patch. . .



Which will now get folded down to create the pocket, err, pocket.

[sydnie7]

Measuring up to mark the eventual hemline -- you don't want the pocket seam allowance to be longer than this.



Fold the vest front out of the way and sew around both sides and bottom of folded pocket patch.



I sewed around twice for strength, then trimmed and graded seam allowance.



I slipstitched the lower edge of pocket opening to the inside layer of welt, both to help hide the raw edge of welt and to help the user (that is, Bob) to more easily slide a hand into the pocket. Otherwise, you might get hung up in the little area between pocket and welt.



For final pressing, I cut another piece of cardboard to slide beneath welt, just to that line of slipstitching. Helps to prevent the different layers beneath from leaving press marks on the outer welt.



Finished pocket, with pretty good yellow and white alignment. It looks better in real life than it does at this angle of photo. But boy did those greys get out of whack! Not at all sure how that happened. Hard to see here, but the grey aligns pretty well at right-hand end -- just in the center that they look drunken. Oh well, my hope is that in real life the white and yellow will carry the day and nobody will see the greys. . .



There sure is a pretty pocket hidden underneath!



One done, now lather, rinse. . . OMG, I have to do this again?!?

[sydnie7]

Second pocket done. Boy, it goes a lot faster when you aren't documenting each step! And also when you're not stopping to second-guess every stitch and snip



I think some judicious work with the iron will make these look better, but that's officially it for the evening. See you tomorrow when I Fiddle With Collars!

[Aspiringloser]

Judicious iron work or not, I think it looks amazing.

[sydnie7]

Thank you! Putting these photos up as actual WIP -- when I don't know what the finished product will look like -- is a bit of a gamble. Here's hoping I keep getting it as right as I have so far. . .

[Aspiringloser]

It must be your lucky day then. Perhaps you should play the lottery.

[sydnie7]

I can sew or I can post, take your choice The vest is done through all the hard parts and looks great. A few more tips and tricks documented which I will write up and post tomorrow, otherwise lots of following the pattern (see seams, sewing / clipping / grading / turning / pressing thereof) which I didn't stop to illustrate. All that's left is to sew up the side seams and make buttonholes, cover and sew on the buttons. Stay tuned!

[AKScott]

Sydnie, thanks for the WIP photos. I know I will never do this, but you are sure making it easier for to write the check to have someone else make one for me.

[tulloch]

Wow. That is great! I like seeing it come together.