Last week I shared my list of projects I’m working on for our wedding next month. I’m happy to report I’ve finished another one and to share some pictures with you (I’ll make sure to share some great photos of him actually wearing it after the wedding).

I decided I really wanted to make some part of Phillip’s outfit for that day, but I didn’t really want to make a dress shirt (making a the Negroni shirt for him was quite an undertaking!). I decided to make his vest but wasn’t really sure how difficult it would be. Turns out, it was pretty easy!

I picked up this wool herringbone at Mood fabrics in LA when I went down to buy my wedding dress fabric. I got some dark gray China silk to line it with. On the advice of my sewing teacher, I added a fusible tricot interfacing to the wool before sewing it up to give it some extra body and stability.

I decided to make a little custom tag to commemorate the day. I whipped this up with some felt and red embroidery floss and stitched it to the lining.

This is the pattern I used: Simplicity 2346 bought during a $1 pattern sale at Jo-Ann. It was really basic and simple to make, which was good since this was my first men’s vest. I debated a bit if I should kick it up a notch and make bound buttonholes instead, but I decided to make it a bit easier on myself and just do stitched ones (see? I’m being practical!). I considered using some vintage buttons but ultimately just used covered buttons for a clean, more formal look.

I had a bit of trouble getting the edges pressed crisply at first since the wool was so springy. I understitched the lining as much as possible but it still wasn’t pressing perfectly flat. I used this home-made clapper that my friend Erin gave me and it worked great! I just ironed with lots of steam and then pressed the block over where I had just ironed for about 5-10 seconds and I got a really good crease that I couldn’t get with just the iron.

Here’s the vest with the shirt and bow tie we bought. I think it looks really sharp!

Closeup of this awesome bow tie- purchased at a vintage store in downtown LA (whose name I forgot, sorry!).

Anyway, I’m really chugging along on these wedding projects now. It seems there’s nothing like a looming deadline to light a fire under you! I’ll be sure to share some more progress soon!