I Think I've Created a Monster, or, If You Sew Your Boyfriend a Vest

The title of this post is an homage to both Rocky & Bulwinkle (I always loved how each adventure had two different titles linked by "or") and the book, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. That is exactly what has occured in my household over the weekend, except Chad is the mouse, and this vest is the cookie.

Allow me to continue the tale...

If you sew your boyfriend a vest, he will ask for a collar.
If you add a collar, he will ask for pockets.
If you add pockets, he will decide he wants a second vest.
If you agree to the second vest, he will find another style that makes you have to completely alter the pattern again, and involve adding a zipper instead of button front...

Oh wait, I totally got off track of the story there. But that is what is happening here. Not that I completely mind, so don't think I'm complaining here. It's just my sewing time over the weekend was dedicated to sewing things not for me. Yes, a bit selfish, but hey, it's my free time. I had plans. I was going to knock out some of my WIP list and shrink it down.

And let me tell you this, I am still not done with the first vest. I did tell Chad that he needs to write down in detail/clip out images of what he wants for future ones. After making this first one, the others should go along quicker, although there are some major design changes so that may negate the speed one would acquire.

This vest I'm talking about? I bet you want to see it, huh.

Like I said, not finished yet. It was lengthened so I had to consult with him first about the buttons. The pattern calls for four. He wanted five, but I wasn't sure if he would want six. I told him that once I put in the buttonholes that would be it as far as placement goes. So that has been decided and will be done as soon as I have time.

There will be two patch pockets added as well. He wanted welt pockets, but considering I haven't sewn those before, they are not an option this time. This vest is, afterall, going to be worn to his father's funeral. (Yes, he is still alive. We are just getting prepared...)

I am pretty proud of my self-drafted collar though. It's not the original idea we had, but it works. I also love how the top stitching makes it look less Becky Home-ecky (thank you, Michael Kors, for that).

Now that I've made this I think it's about time I start thinking more about clothing for me. Especially pants; ideally jeans. I say this after spending some time today shopping for a couple new pairs. I have to go now otherwise it is near impossible to find tall jeans in the summer here. Even if I do find jeans that say they are long, they sometimes aren't. That was the case today. I tried on every cut and brand in one store in my size that were long. Out of the four pairs (yep, just four!), only one was the right length. The other was just about there and the two remaining not even close.

Whew. I really got off tangent there. To sum up, expect more apparel sewing to show up here in the future. Afterall, I did buy some more apparel fabric online that is currently winging it's way to me.