RHF Regency Men's Waistcoat: Tutorial, Part 3

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all of you hard working Moms out there! 
Enjoy this very special day!

This is the final instalment of the Rocking Horse Farm Regency Men's Waistcoat.  Again, for the purposes of this tutorial, I am not sewing this by hand (well...I will for part of it) or doing what is necessarily a period correct way of assembly it.  There are many ways to attach a lining to a waistcoat.  HERE is one way of doing it that is similar to what I THINK the RHF directions are trying to do.  I'm doing mine differently, but it works for me. 

Step 9: Assembling the Waistcoat

Place the Collar right sides together with the Back Waistcoat, matching center seams and notches.

Pin Collar to Waistcoat.

Bast Collar in place.

Here it is basted.  I used a 1/2" seam allowance for basting, because the real seam allowance is 5/8" and I wanted to make sure the basting didn't show.

Trim the seam allowance.

Now, lay out your waistcoat, making sure the Right side is facing up, and the Collar is folded down.

Place the Lining on top of the Waistcoat, with the Lining's Right side down.

Start by matching up the center seams and pin in place.

Pin across the top...

....down both sides...

...and across the bottom.

Leave the bottom edge, between the side seams unpinned. (See between my two yellow pins...you won't stitch this part.)

Stitch around all edges of your waistcoat, 5/8" seam allowance.  Leave open the bottom center edge pictured above.

Trim your seam allowance.

Snip all corners, and notch the "V" area by the collar.

Open up the bottom center part that you didn't sew.  Stick your hand in and turn the vest right side out.  (Now that I'm looking at this...I'm realizing that I'm a wee bit slow in the head....since the arm holes aren't stitched yet, you COULD stitch all the way across the bottom, and forget what I just said about leaving this open.  Because you can reach into one of the arm holes and turn the vest right side out just as easily.  Sorry....it's been a LONG day.)

Make sure your corners are pushed out and pointy.  Iron down all edges and around the Collar.

Turn under the bottom edge of the waistcoat and lining that were left open, and press.  (If you did this part.)

Pin together the two layers.  (If you did this part.)

Stitch closed the opening.  You could use a Whip Stitch, instructions here, but that can look a bit sloppy.  I would recommend an Invisible Stitch.  THIS blog does a fantastic job of teaching you how to do that, so I won't go into it during this tutorial.  (If you did this part.)

The only problem with the way I lined my waistcoat, is that the arm holes aren't put together at this point.  What I do is, around the arm holes, I turn under the Waistcoat and Lining edges about 1/2".  Make sure to turn them in toward each other.  Pin as you go.  Because this is a curved area, it isn't easy to do, and it may take some easing, and or lots of pins.

But once you get it, it looks great.  I Whip Stitched all the way around the arm hole.

Step 10: Finishing the Waistcoat

The back is done, looking nice and crisp.

This waistcoat, even though the pattern is a toughy, really does give a very nice silhouette.  It puffs out ever so slightly at the chest, and fits snug at the waist.

At this point, the only thing left to do is to add the buttons and the button holes.  I actually have my husband's Waistcoat pinned the wrong way.  It's supposed to be pinned left side over right side...his is reversed.  But, I'm tire, and it's Mother's Day weekend....so, forgive me please if I don't go back and correct it.  In fact, forgive me for not actually posting the buttons and button holes in this tutorial.  I'm out of time, and you can see what they will look like on previous waistcoats I've done in THIS post. The pattern has a button hole guide. I recommend using this. 

Once you've pinned it on your man, place the button whole guide over the front and mark where your button holes will be.  You should have two rows of 9, 1/2" button holes on the left front side of the waistcoat.  Once these are sewn, use these holes as a guide for marking where your buttons will go on the right front side.  You can use 1/2" brass, pewter or silver buttons.  Or, you can use horn or bone buttons, if you want a less formal look.  Or, you can cover your buttons with extra bits of your fashion fabric.  This tutorial is a fabulous one to use if you want to learn how to cover buttons.

One other thing you can do to polish off your Waistcoat if you like is to do what I think is called a pick-stitch around the Collar and Front of your waistcoat.  You can see what pick-stitching looks like in some of my previous posts here (my pelisse) and here (my husbands coat.)

You know what, the blue striped cotton doesn't look half bad...maybe my husband can wear it after all!  I've enjoyed sharing this process with you.  I sincerely hope it helped you out and doesn't confuse you even more.  If there are any questions, please don't hesitate to leave a comment and ask.  Also, if you know of a better way to line a waistcoat, I would love to learn from you.  Please post a link in the comments section or write up the directions.