Patchwork & Embroidered Waistcoat: Step 1 - Preparation & first steps ...

In between making my curtains (previous post & while I get my unpicking done etc) I've now started making a long waistcoat. Having made over 12 blouses for a customer, I suggested a long waistcoat to wear with them. A selection of various left-over cotton scraps had been collected & the colours were ideally suited for patchwork. (All fabric had been pre-washed before the blouses had been made - for shrinkage purposes.) At this early stage, no decision on final decoration techniques has been made - this will happen later when all scraps are ready & first steps completed. (It's also quite likely one of my design ideas will be incorporated - first stages of Mosaic)

After sorting the fabrics, there were 2 main colours to use - blues/turquoises & pinks/purples ... selected for back & fronts respectively. Initial thoughts were to mix with denim but larger scrap pieces allowed for complete back/front linings in the same fabrics. A fine sew-in interfacing was used for the patchwork backing - cut to oversize/vague back & front shapes. These would be used to stitch the patchwork pieces onto, as well as retain an overall fabric grainline. (The photos show the sections on my cutting board - a useful photographic aid as well as a sewing one!)

Back - pinned pieces

STEP 1 (above) : The back was begun first - 'smaller scraps' being roughly pinned on the interfacing to obtain positioning & colour co-ordination. By doing this first, final placement/sizing can then be adjusted at the tacking stage.

Back - tacked pieces

STEP 2 (above) : Each patchwork piece was positioned over another & a small turning pinned down - this ensured all edges would not fray whilst working/stitiching. As 3 - 4 pieces were pinned into final place, they were then tacked into position.

Front - tacked pieces

STEP 3 (above) : Steps 1 & 2 were repeated for both fronts (I'm still finishing the other front).

NOTE: If you want to see close-ups of the pinning & tacking, please visit the studio.