cadagh and waistcoat planning

[AKScott]

I decided today I am going to make a pair of cadadh. I want to buy enough tartan to make a bias cut deep gorge waistcoat from the same dye lot as well. What I need to do is free up my claret hose for day wear, so I need something for formal evenings to replace them in the lineup.

I was shopping diced and argyle hose and just cringing at the prices. I finally looked in my closet again and was inspired by a 1/2 meter remnant of double wide I already own....



I found a thread here with directions by MAC Newsome, so far I have $14.92 invested in safety pins and the cheapest twin sized flat sheet I could find on the closeout rack. But I have a pattern, and since I used safety pins for the pattern making I don't have any holes in my feet.

On my green wedding plaid (double wide deep, 2 meters L to R before purling) it looks like I will have a sizable scrap left if I cut one pair of cadadh from one meter of double wide. I did press a crease into the center of my rough piece and kept it lined up on my leg as i was pinning the piece down so the plaid pattern will look right on the finished cadadh. Put the crease on the diagonal, put the crease on the front of my shin. Put the crease on the diagonal...



However, my assistant and I agree the half meter remnant of double wide I have in clan red is not big enough.



So I am going to have to order some fabric.

And I am not wild about the baggy ankle thing either. I get that it is traditional, but seriously. I am not a reenactor, I just want some $200 hose for under 50 bucks.

And I remembered the vamshields I made back when I was using a chainsaw a lot in the days when I was heating my home with wood.



The way I sewed these up is I closed the cone from my elbow down towards my wrist until I could just get my hand through the narrow end of the cone, and then I did a wrap and snap to close the rest of the cone down to my wrist.

For cadadh I am thinking slit and multiple snaps. Looks like I can sew the cladadh shut to within about eight inches of my heel. I'll need to add some material to the pattern in this area, so I'll have doubled over cloth wide enough to take snap hardware on both sides of the slit, and overlap so the snaps can close- directly over my Achilles tendon so I'll have something to press against.

Took about 0.006 seconds to find 7/16" red colored snaps on the internetz...: http://www.snapsource.com/store/aboutoursnaps.php

So questions:

1. Does one meter of double wide sound like a reasonable amount of fabric to order for a bias cut waistcoat? I have about a 44" chest and the back can be plain satin or burlap sack or whatever, all I want is the two front panels. And the whatchamacallits for the two pocket openings.

2. Anyone know of a sewing pattern for a waistcoat/ vest with a deep gorge suitable for black tie and shirt studs?

3. I can get one meter of doublewide in the pattern I want (16oz House of Edgar) for a lousy $30 + s/h. Is 16oz OK for cadadh considering it is the pattern I really want, or do I need to look at something lighter? I do live in Alaska, I am a lot more concerned about frostbite than a little sweat.

4. If my cadadh don't have puffy ankles are people going to laugh at me, even notice, or ask how I did it? I think the snap heads might show under flash photography, but will likely otherwise be overlooked.

Thanks,
Scott