He had been shopping around for a vest with an interior pocket for his cell phone and had not been able to find one that didn't look like it was suitable to wear for fishing or the great outdoors, so I volunteered to make one for him.
We took a trip to the nearest JoAnn's store to pick out a pattern and materials. It was oddly amusing to head to the back of the store and sit at one of the little tables with him while looking through pattern books. There were not many to choose from, but a basic vest is a basic vest so we chose this one:
It did not have the inner pockets he was hoping for, but I thought I could engineer a couple of pockets in the lining for him. We headed to the fabrics and chose a denim for the exterior fabric and a flannel for the lining.
Initially, I though I would make zippered interior pockets similar to those I had seen in linings of purses, so that's why the zippers are in the photo. Later, we thought that maybe the phone might get scratched by the zipper teeth when going in and out of the pocket, so it was on to plan B, which was a pocket with a flap. Here is my trial pocket:
Looked good, but the extra layer of denim for the flap was awkward and bulky on an inner pocket. After more consideration, we took a look inside one of his suit jackets and realized there was another option: a welt pocket. I had to look that one up to figure out the mechanics of sewing one, but eventually, and with help from this video I did a trial run and was successful.
Now I felt ready to (finally!) make the vest.
Two welt pockets? Check!
Two fake welts on the exterior just for show? Check!
Buttonholes and buttons? Check!
I think it's done!
Here is my impression of an L.L. Bean catalog shot. (Note the calculator in the upper left corner for authenticity.) 😊
No photo of him wearing it, because after he put it on for the last trial fitting, he's still wearing it!
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