Double-Breasted Waistcoat

It’s time to cut and prepare the facings for installation. Traditionally, the facings were cut with the collar in one piece to maintain a more seamless look to the finished waistcoat. To accommodate the lack of darts as well, the facings are cut with an additional allowance so that the facings can be manipulated into …

Before installing the facings, I like to reinforce the edges with linen stay tape. This gives a firmer and crisper edge to the waistcoat and prevents the seams from rolling out of position over time. Begin by marking out the seam allowances (3/8″) along the bottom edge using a ruler and chalk or pencil. Continue …

To complete the installation of the canvas, we’ll again turn back to the pockets, which we left unfinished at the ends. We’ll now trim the ends, turn them under, and tack them down through all layers, including the canvas, which will give them additional strength and prevent the canvas from shifting during wear. Begin by …

With the canvas installed, we can move on to finalizing the position of the roll line. Take your collar pattern and align it on the collar canvas as closely as possible. Slide it down about 1/4″ to expose the linen underneath and make a mark at the top of the collar along the roll line. …

With all the preparatory work out of the way, we can begin installing the canvas. Begin by laying the forepart on top of the canvas, right sides up, and aligning the forepart at the darts, collar, and other visual landmarks. If you’ve not done this before I’d recommend starting on the side with the 1″ …

The last thing to do before installing the canvas is to add a bit of padding to the underside. I’m using a 100% wool quilt batting from Hobb’s Heirloom, which gives just the right amount of body without being overly thick. I first cut two layers of batting to very roughly the size of the …

We can now turn our attention to the collar canvas, which also must be attached with as few layers as possible. Begin by drawing in a line along the neck edge, twice the seam allowance in width. So using 3/8″ seam allowances, my line is 3/4″ from the edge. Beginning at the base of the …

With the canvas cut, we can move on to the construction, which involves closing any darts we may have to give shape to the waistcoat. We’ll be closing the darts along their raw edges – no seam allowances – to minimize the bulk in the canvas. With the right side up (you should have two …

With the pockets completed, it’s time to move on to the canvas construction. The canvas in a waistcoat or coat provides structure and shape to the garment and is usually made of linen. In my case since the waistcoat fabric is rather lightweight, I’m just using a piece of regular medium weight linen. Begin by …

The remaining breast pocket is constructed in the same manner as the other pockets, but the angle is a little steeper, so I thought I’d show a few little details to help you out. Here I’ve transferred the stripes to the pattern piece. The lack of a dart in this area makes it a little …