Double Breasted Waistcoat: Part One

I was sent a message from a customer about making a waistcoat from some reference photographs. It involved a double breasted style waistcoat made originally of tweed. I chose a similar fabric, but an alternative that is thinner and therefore cheaper. Keeping costs down for both myself and the customer has always been important to me.
Firstly, I studied the reference photos carefully. The waistcoat also has lapels, and two pockets. I used this information to come up with a whole new pattern draft, instead of adapting a previous one. I know that the chest measurement needs to be 40 inches, so the back piece needs to be 20 inches. This means that both front and back would need to be 10 inches wide plus seam allowance. Since this waistcoat is double breasted, the front piece needs to be extended by how much overlap we want, which in this case is 6 inches. The pattern looks like this:

The back piece is just the standard shape for the waistcoats, but the front piece is a lot more interesting. To work out the correct shape of the piece I drew the basic shape for a waistcoat front and then made the section to represent the lapel only. This then enabled me to get the correct shape and then attached it to the basic front.

After checking the pieces, I laid it out on the fabric and cut. The back piece was cut on the fold and the front piece was cut off the fold. Once cut, I laid the whole waistcoat out to check how it would look once completed. The button positions are taken from the original inspiration photographs and the pockets were added upon request. I'll likely move the pockets and make them a little bit smaller, and play around with the proportions and positions of things so it looks as close to the inspiration photographs as possible.

It's looking how I want it to, but I'm considering putting a facing on the lapels, to make them exactly the same as the rest of the waistcoat fabric. They are a slightly different colour due to being the 'wrong' side of the fabric.

Part Two to follow either later or tomorrow, then it'll be off to make a customer even happier, and even more well-dressed. Want your own? Contact me here: Ava's Apparel