DIY Tartan Waistcoat - US Army Tartan

**longhuntr74** · 16th January 12, 02:42 PM

First, a bit of the back story.

WAAAAAAAAYYYYYY back in July 2010, I first started working on this project. I had nearly completed the project later in 2010...had the entire vest/waistcoat assembled...and then started making the buttonholes...by hand. Long story short, I TOTALLY RUINED the front of the vest attempting to do hand sewn buttonholes...and was totally disheartened by the entire affair...and had pretty much resigned myself to the realization that I would have to buy a custom waistcoat if I wanted one.

Well...after 4-6 months, the disgust and self-loathing had passed and I decided to rip the thing apart and re-attempt the project by making new body fronts. My first attempt was also a bit on the small side, and as I had gained about 10 lbs at the time, I decided I needed to recreate the pattern to make it a touch larger. I restarted the project and recreated two vest fronts. I did the complete pocket on one of them and had the pieces waiting on the second...but then school got me so busy that the project again got put on the back burner.

Last week, I came to the realization that the Burns Night Supper was about 10 days away and decided that I needed to get this thing cranked out...so over the past weekend, I spent about 15 hours finishing up the project. The tartan alignment at the edges and flaps was slightly better on my first version...but I happily accepted "good enough" this time around and am VERY HAPPY with the finished product (both looks and fit).

So without further ado, I present to you: US Army Tartan Bias Cut Waistcoat, Version 2.0!

A picture of the new vest fronts...with buttons and button holes done...before attaching them to the vest back from Version 1.0.

A picture of the buttons. They were made from random scraps of fabric, thus they don't line up perfectly with the tartan where they were sewn. I did, however, make a conscious effort to match design elements (hence the buttons with yellow at the point of the tartan where the yellow stripe runs). PS...That black spot must be on my camera lens...it's not on the tartan.

A picture of the inside front edge with the lining...all hand stitched in (pretty time consuming). You might also note here (if you have a discriminating eye), that the twill weave on the inside facings runs horizontal, whereas the twill on the outside of the vest runs (correctly) vertical. This was necessary because I had just plain run out of fabric and it was quite a challenge finding enough space to cut these last two pieces from. I think it worked out fine.

The back of the vest. I might have aligned the tartan slightly differently if I were to redo this as well...but it looks okay, I think.

Now that I've taunted you enough, here is the finished product shown with the kilt.

The kilt is 15/16oz. Dalgleish fabric. The waistcoat is made from 11oz. Strathmore fabric. Due to the difference in weights and weavers, you will notice a difference in both coloration and sett size. I rather like this difference and intended for it to be so, in order to emphasize a coordinated look, but avoid the "matchy matchy" syndrome. The Strathmore (vest) tartan is what I would describe as "muddier" than the kilt...the blue is virtually un-discernable from the black in low light, the yellow is not quite as vibrant, the green is darker/bluer, and the tan is lighter/more olive in color. Here is a closeup picture to show the differences.

Hope you all like it. In anticipation for the calls for it to be modeled on my body, I will tell you that I will be wearing the full rig next Saturday at our annual Burns Dinner...so I will post more pics next Sunday of the completed outfit! Be patient until then!!!

**Thomas H** · 16th January 12, 02:50 PM

Great Job

That looks great ,Did you make the mini rosetties too , They are cool

**artificer** · 16th January 12, 02:54 PM

That is gorgeous! Very nicely done.

ith:

**Spartan Tartan** · 16th January 12, 02:54 PM

Very nice. I am genuinely impressed.

**longhuntr74** · 16th January 12, 03:10 PM

Originally Posted by Thomas H

Great Job

That looks great ,Did you make the mini rosetties too , They are cool

Thanks for the compliments, Gents! Yes, Thomas, I did make the rosettes myself (there's a thread about it somewhere on here...just search for rosettes). House of Labhran used to carry similar ones, but the old man that used to make them retired and they have not found a replacement for him. I am aware of NOWHERE else that you can purchase tartan rosettes...and to be fair...they ARE rather time consuming to make.

**tulloch** · 16th January 12, 03:26 PM

Wow. Impressive work. Glad to see it.

**Aspiringloser** · 16th January 12, 04:13 PM

DUDE!!! I bow to your greatness. I'm awe struck.

**RAF** · 16th January 12, 04:18 PM

excellent work! you even matched the pattern on the self covered buttons - I imagine that took some doing. Nice detailing on the back as well. I'm guessing the material for the waistcoat was purchased separately from that of the kilt? Slight dye lot variation - but negligible on the overall look. Very smart.

**longhuntr74** · 16th January 12, 04:29 PM

Originally Posted by RAF

excellent work! you even matched the pattern on the self covered buttons - I imagine that took some doing. Nice detailing on the back as well. I'm guessing the material for the waistcoat was purchased separately from that of the kilt? Slight dye lot variation - but negligible on the overall look. Very smart.

Read my notes about the two tartans between the last two pictures...yes they are different manufacturers and weights...which gives an INTENDED difference in look, complementing, yet not matching! The buttons themselves were not made to go where they are (in fact, I made the buttons back in August or September of 2010)...I just made a bunch of them out of scraps...and then selected them to roughly mirror that element of the tartan. It was somewhat planned and somewhat good fortune that I could find ones that closely matched the elements where they were to be placed!