...before going to the Renaissance Faire. I may go on Sunday instead of Saturday as Lawrence declared that archery plus Faire equals too much activity for one day.
Tuesday night, after knitting, I stayed up until almost 4am sewing. This is one seriously addicting activity. It didn't even feel like I got much done! I ironed the red fabric and traced the vest pattern pieces onto it. I cut it out, pinned the bust darts on the front and sewed in the darts. That was all.
After sewing them together, I took a look at the pattern and realized that I had done it wrong... You're supposed to baste the interfacing to the cloth *before* you sew up the darts. GAHHHH. Then I realized that I could just have those pieces be the lining.
Last night, I traced and cut another set of the vest pattern pieces. I had already cut the interfacing a week ago, thankfully. I pinned the interfacing onto the cloth and basted it all together. That ended up being rather time consuming as well. The only thing I had time for at the end was to pin the bust dart seams together and mark out the line I was to sew on.
Reading through the instructions, I also realized that I used the WRONG bias tape. I had used the double folded bias tape for the blouse's elastic casing, but then I realized I was supposed to use the single fold - no wonder I ran out! It's the vest that calls for the double folded bias tape to enclose the edges of the outside, interfacing, and lining fabrics. I'm going to have to head back to JoAnn's for more bias tape...joy! I doubt they have more of the dark brown I've been using since I took the last one in the store on Tuesday. On the bright side, that means I could pick a different color to use for the bias tape! I realized that dark brown edges on a dark red vest would probably not show up very well. Unfortunately, I don't know what would work better. Black maybe? Black matches everything...
If I can go to JoAnn's tonight, I *might* be able to finish the vest tonight. Besides the darts for the front of the vest, I will have to sew the shoulder seams and side seams together. Next comes the bias tape all around the armholes, neckline, front opening, and bottom edges. That will probably be the most time consuming part since there are so many curves everywhere. Once that is done, all I have to do is hammer in the grommets and create a cord to lace the front with.