Welcome!

Today I have a finished upcycling project to share with you.

I believe in repurposing clothing and fabrics whenever possible in sewing and have been hanging on to this pair of dark brown tweed-looking pants for some time, hoping that the fabric could find a new life as something else down the road.

I’ve been wanting to make a classic waistcoat (or vest) for some time now, and thought this fabric could be used for that project. I looked through my stash at sewing patterns and found this one from McCall’s.

I liked the neckline on option D and thought the shape would better suit the small amount of fabric I have to work with. Unfortunately, this pattern is no longer in print, but I found it for sale on both Etsy and eBay if you’re interested in it. There are many, many vest sewing patterns out there though, so if you’re looking for one for yourself I encourage you to shop around, and consider all of the options available.

Once I had my pattern, the next step was to open up the pants and pray that there was enough fabric!

I cut the pants open along the inside seam of the leg, and then up the back center seam. I then laid the pant legs on top of each other, right side in, and pinned the pattern pieces in place to see if I was going to be able to fit everything in.

As you’ll see in the photo below, I managed it but there wasn’t much extra fabric to spare!

Here is what the front pieces looked like once cut out.

While vests are often made with a simple lining used for the back, I liked the idea of both the front and back being made of the same fabric, and had enough to do it. Here are the back pieces.

Once the pieces were cut, it was time to figure out how I was going to add structure to this light weight suiting so that it would hold the classic waistcoat shape.

As mentioned in a previous post I’ve been researching traditional tailoring techniques to see if I could incorporate more of those methods when I’m making structured pieces, or pieces that I hope will have a very long life. One of the nuggets of information I have found among my tailoring research is the difference that can be achieved by using tailors canvas for interfacing, instead of today’s modern interfacings. What’s the difference?

Tailor’s canvas is a sew-in stiffening material that has been used by tailor’s for hundreds of years, and can still be found in sewing supply stores today. Traditionally this material was made with horse hair, which is why it was also called hair canvas. However, modern tailor’s canvas can be made with or without horse hair.

I lined all four front pieces with a non-horse hair tailor’s canvas, which looks like this.

Once the canvas was sewn into the front, I put together the whole outer layer, as shown below.

I used a simple brown satin for my lining, which I sewed together and then sewed to the outside layer with right sides together. I left the whole bottom seam and the tops of the straps open. I was then able to use these openings to turn the the whole thing right side out.

During these steps, I did ALOT of pressing (aka ironing). This is something else I’ve learnt the importance of during my research, and can already see the difference it is making in my projects. Taking the time to press open your seams, press hems and press down finishing edges is worth the time and effort!

I decided that I wanted to put in small welt pockets on the front, and then stitched up the bottom of the seam and sewed the straps together. Voila!

I do have one step left, which is to make hand-sewn button holes for the front. This will be my first time attempting that method for button holes so I’m going to take my time with it and post a video of the process on the Tutorials page when I’ve finished.

I love how this classic piece turned out, and feel great about that fact that it came from upcycled material that otherwise probably would have been thrown out.

If you have a success story recycling materials for a project I’d love to hear it!

Until next time, happy sewing!

~Amanda

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