Found a good, simple waistcoat pattern

[usonian]

There's nothing like a deadline to motivate a person. Back in May I was working to finish my Murray of Atholl kilt and a jacket conversion in time to make a presentation to the 12th Duke of Atholl on behalf of my Masonic lodge, and then I got distracted by other things over the summer... until suddenly my installation as Master of my lodge was only a week away and I still hadn't gotten back to the vest. But I pulled it off!

This time I got all three factors right when laying out the tartan fronts on the bias: the ABAC repeat of the tartan, the seam allowance, and the button overlap. I aligned the center of the tartan pattern to the exact center of the button holes based on the pattern, but in hindsight I can see that some offset would be necessary to get the tartan pattern to align perfectly symmetrically on both halves of the front - on my second attempt the pattern is about 1/2" from being symmetrical. I don't think anyone outside of this forum is ever going to notice, though.

On my second attempt I made muslin copies of the major pattern pieces, and shortened them by 3 inches, which was definitely a good call - the length works well with both my spencer jacket and my converted jacket. It winds up being a 3 button vest.

I managed to get it finished in time for the installation! I still need to get photos of it without a jacket, but in the meantime here's a photo from fellow X-Marker and Brother Peter Crowe, who drove across the state to attend the ceremony.



I'll definitely be making this pattern again... I think perhaps a tweed is called for next. It goes together quickly and easily, but looks pretty nice when finished.