I am absolutely loving the chaotic process you are bringing us through! I am sewing my first waistcoat and have watched a few videos with this pattern. Yours is by far my favourite video! I am learning so much alongside you from the little mistakes you made and corrected. Thank you! Please keep making videos of your sewing adventures!
i'm about to make this waistcoat after a longggg sewing break and watching you struggle as much as i always do was very comforting. i'm always worried that other people find these things so much easier than i do so this was wonderful to see hahah. i hope mine turns out as great as yours!
update, i made it and it all went so well! such a great pattern for people just getting into making full garments- it’s got elements of proper, challenging tailoring, but overall is easy enough that it’s not SO overwhelming. so pleased.
I sewed up this pattern and although I've made several waistcoat in the past....the instructions also confused me. Looking forward to seeing more of your Victorian projects.
This was so much fun to watch, your enthusiasm for the project is infectious and the finished waistcoat is beautiful! Well done 🙂 Without seeing the garment in person I can't be sure, but it is possible that you needed to ease the collar into the body of the waistcoat. Collars (and waist bands for skirts, too) are often a little smaller than the garment you are sewing them to. One way to combat this is to sew a gathering thread into the neckline and make it slightly tighter, but not so much that it actually gathers. Another way is the 'divide and conquer' method (which is the one my Mum taught me when I was learning to sew) where you pin the ends, then pin the halfway point between both, then the quarter way point, then the eighth and so on - if it is still lumpy you can put the fabric over your finger with the smaller side closest to your finger and pin it over a curve - because the longer side has further to go, this will smooth it out, even though it is larger than the fabric you're pinning to. I can usually manage to ease in up to about 3-5cm difference like this. With more difference than that, at some point it just ends up being gathers (which usually means I have made a dire mistake with the pattern somewhere, lol).
So glad I came across your channel! I started to learn to sew because I wanted to make an 1890s bicycling outfit. I made a bunch of simpler stuff first to learn the basics, so now 4 months later, I'm just about finished the first piece (a cycling skirt/cape from bikes and bloomers). I've had my eye on the blacksnail vest but was intimidated to start since the other youtubers i watched did it with pad stitching and hair canvas and proper tailoring techniques. But you made it beautifully without all those complicated techniques. I also love the way you did your buttons, I had no idea you could turn any button into a fabric covered button. Definitely will be copying that.
I have the same pattern and reason you finish the back armscye first is that you don’t sew down the front lining to the side seam until after you seam up the side. You sew the front fashion layer to the finished back, fold in the front armscye seam allowances and finish those and then tuck the seam allowance of the side in and fell it down to the back. I hope that makes sense?
This, yes! I was looking to see if anyone had mentioned this. I haven't done or even seen this pattern but I know the technique (if we can call it that) you're talking about. Staggering/staircasing the seam allowance while doing this will also help the garment sit comfortable and have the least possible bulk visible.
The Wonky-Bits on the back are from the fabric not being ironed. so if you iron it, it'll cooperate a lil better. This turned out *SO CUTE* though regardless, and you did a fantastic job! That pattern matching is *Chefs Kiss* I'm so impressed you're able to sew on such a teeny tiny machine too!
To your question of how to pattern match darts... yeah that is its own little adventure. Once you have a little more experience with modifying patterns, you can start doing the extra steps you need to keep your plaid aligned. My personal preference, if you have time and the skill is to go ahead and sub-divide the front into 2 pieces drawn from the upper point of the dart. But only do that if you are very confident of your stitches, since you will need to get them all the way down to tiny. The other primary trick with pattern matching is to match the seam-line, not the edge of the pattern (seam allowance) because the seam allowance can cause it to be just a little off. On a larger pattern like this, it is not going to be an issue, but on fine patterns it will be visible.
Just cut out this pattern myself. Thank you so much for this video because now I'm a lot less intimidated by this project! About the back / shoulder seam - I think you're supposed to gather the shoulders so the width matches. There was a direction on the pattern itself, I believe. And the front could been meant to be notched so it will fit the curve of the back better.
Press press press. Ironing solves many problems.
I am absolutely loving the chaotic process you are bringing us through! I am sewing my first waistcoat and have watched a few videos with this pattern. Yours is by far my favourite video! I am learning so much alongside you from the little mistakes you made and corrected. Thank you! Please keep making videos of your sewing adventures!
I’m really glad you enjoyed it!
i'm about to make this waistcoat after a longggg sewing break and watching you struggle as much as i always do was very comforting. i'm always worried that other people find these things so much easier than i do so this was wonderful to see hahah. i hope mine turns out as great as yours!
update, i made it and it all went so well! such a great pattern for people just getting into making full garments- it’s got elements of proper, challenging tailoring, but overall is easy enough that it’s not SO overwhelming. so pleased.
I sewed up this pattern and although I've made several waistcoat in the past....the instructions also confused me.
Looking forward to seeing more of your Victorian projects.
This was so much fun to watch, your enthusiasm for the project is infectious and the finished waistcoat is beautiful! Well done 🙂
Without seeing the garment in person I can't be sure, but it is possible that you needed to ease the collar into the body of the waistcoat. Collars (and waist bands for skirts, too) are often a little smaller than the garment you are sewing them to. One way to combat this is to sew a gathering thread into the neckline and make it slightly tighter, but not so much that it actually gathers. Another way is the 'divide and conquer' method (which is the one my Mum taught me when I was learning to sew) where you pin the ends, then pin the halfway point between both, then the quarter way point, then the eighth and so on - if it is still lumpy you can put the fabric over your finger with the smaller side closest to your finger and pin it over a curve - because the longer side has further to go, this will smooth it out, even though it is larger than the fabric you're pinning to. I can usually manage to ease in up to about 3-5cm difference like this. With more difference than that, at some point it just ends up being gathers (which usually means I have made a dire mistake with the pattern somewhere, lol).
So glad I came across your channel! I started to learn to sew because I wanted to make an 1890s bicycling outfit. I made a bunch of simpler stuff first to learn the basics, so now 4 months later, I'm just about finished the first piece (a cycling skirt/cape from bikes and bloomers). I've had my eye on the blacksnail vest but was intimidated to start since the other youtubers i watched did it with pad stitching and hair canvas and proper tailoring techniques. But you made it beautifully without all those complicated techniques. I also love the way you did your buttons, I had no idea you could turn any button into a fabric covered button. Definitely will be copying that.
I have the same pattern and reason you finish the back armscye first is that you don’t sew down the front lining to the side seam until after you seam up the side. You sew the front fashion layer to the finished back, fold in the front armscye seam allowances and finish those and then tuck the seam allowance of the side in and fell it down to the back. I hope that makes sense?
This, yes! I was looking to see if anyone had mentioned this. I haven't done or even seen this pattern but I know the technique (if we can call it that) you're talking about. Staggering/staircasing the seam allowance while doing this will also help the garment sit comfortable and have the least possible bulk visible.
The Wonky-Bits on the back are from the fabric not being ironed. so if you iron it, it'll cooperate a lil better. This turned out *SO CUTE* though regardless, and you did a fantastic job! That pattern matching is *Chefs Kiss* I'm so impressed you're able to sew on such a teeny tiny machine too!
I've never pattern matched anything. I've avoided plaids and stripes for that reason. But it looks so easy. I'll jump into it soon!
😂 Nice job! Its so enjoyable to see how happy you are
To your question of how to pattern match darts... yeah that is its own little adventure. Once you have a little more experience with modifying patterns, you can start doing the extra steps you need to keep your plaid aligned. My personal preference, if you have time and the skill is to go ahead and sub-divide the front into 2 pieces drawn from the upper point of the dart. But only do that if you are very confident of your stitches, since you will need to get them all the way down to tiny. The other primary trick with pattern matching is to match the seam-line, not the edge of the pattern (seam allowance) because the seam allowance can cause it to be just a little off. On a larger pattern like this, it is not going to be an issue, but on fine patterns it will be visible.
Great work! 🎉
I did a mock up of this waistcoat and it was so bad! But I look forward to trying again after watching this!
Just discovered your channel, and I have to say that I have wanted to dress as Amalia True ever since I saw the Nevers!! I’m so sad it got cancelled.
I have had this pattern for months and been putting it off as im daunted, but you've got me all excited about it again!
Love how it turned out! It looks amazing! Also I agree the shoulder directions on this pattern are confusing!
Thank you! Glad it wasn't only me who was confused 😅
Just cut out this pattern myself. Thank you so much for this video because now I'm a lot less intimidated by this project!
About the back / shoulder seam - I think you're supposed to gather the shoulders so the width matches. There was a direction on the pattern itself, I believe. And the front could been meant to be notched so it will fit the curve of the back better.
Thank you for sharing your joy! 😊
This looks amazing! Well done! :D I hope you try more tailoring because this does look awesome!
Beautiful make!
Fantastic work! You have inspired me to give it ago making a waistcoat. Hi from Australia!
this was really engaging! great video!
I’m making a men’s vest from Black snail but there are no videos of it. I’m hoping your video helps! How did you finish the back seam?