Button Vest (Almost there...)

My vest is nearly done. The majority of the body is finished, all that is left is the detailing. Anyhow, instead of boring you with details we'll just shoot on to the sewing.

The liner is pinned together at the center facing and is being sewn together.

Here is a better picture of pressing the seam open so that it lays flat.

I have pinned the sides together and will sew them together. Just like the front panels, right sides are facing inwards and I did not sew up the bottom hem.

Again I am trimming the seams and clipping the curves of the armseye and neck hole to reduce bulk. One side was left unclipped for the picture so you can see the difference it makes.

Turn the back panel inside out and press again.

Pin the bottom hem in preparation for the sewing it closed.

A detail shot of how the three panels will fit together.

Repeat the process of sewing a topstitch that is 1/8 of an inch away from the edge.

The bottom seam is completed.

Here is all three panels laid out. Almost finished!

It's pretty obvious that the three panels will not fit together. Normally on vest, you would sew the side and shoulder seams together and line the entire piece at once. To replace the side seams, I'll be using, for lack of a better word, fabric "tabs" so that I can button the side and shoulder seams together.

Here's a shot of the "tabs" being cut out. Just like the panels, there's the outer shell and the liner.

A detail shot of one of the shoulder "tabs".

A quick shot of sewing the "tab" together.

An approximate placement of the "tab" before I press it with an iron, pin it in place, and sew it.

Sewing the "tab" on to the front shoulder edge.

It might of been better to have taken pictures of it. But, the process is rather repetitive. Do the same process with the other should edge and for the side seams. On my vest, I left about 6 inches along the bottom free so that they can form slits to allow for the movement of my legs.

Next installment: Buttons and buttonholes... Stay tuned!