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Description
This is a fully reversible men's steampunk vest. The brown side is cotton duck, and the reverse is peacock-colored dupioni silk.

I drew the violin design freehand in chalk, and then painted it with Jaquard fabric paints. It is a unique design. I like how it turned out, but if I had it to do over again I would center the violin further down the back, and have the neck aimed over the left shoulder instead of the right. That way the design would not conflict with the double-breasted design of the front closure. I heat-set the paint so it is machine washable.

The hang in the photos is a little odd, because it's a men's vest, but is on a woman's mannequin that's also significantly smaller in size. There is a significant fitted shaping to the vest, but it's a little exaggerated by the dummy.

The pattern is an adaptation of several plates from the Handbook of Practical Cutting on the Centre Point System 1866, a book which is apparently now out of print and very expensive. If you are interested in making Mens' Victorian clothing and can afford this book, I highly recommend it. It is a modern edit of a Victorian text describing how to draft and make tailored clothing, first published in 1866 and 1868. Most of the plates are of Men's clothing, but there are also some women's fashions and children's fashions.

The primary plate I referenced is on p. 43, figure 4 and figure 5. I widened the overlap of the double-breast from ~2" to ~4". I also split the back panel into two pieces, referencing some of the basic coat patterns for a proper curve to give a fine tailored shape to the back of the vest. The basic size is perfect for the fellow who will be receiving the vest, so I did not have to make any alterations to the dimensions.

Final Version:

Description
This is a fully reversible men's steampunk vest. The brown side is cotton duck, and the reverse is peacock-colored dupioni silk.

I drew the violin design freehand in chalk, and then painted it with Jaquard fabric paints. It is a unique design. I like how it turned out, but if I had it to do over again I would center the violin further down the back, and have the neck aimed over the left shoulder instead of the right. That way the design would not conflict with the double-breasted design of the front closure. I heat-set the paint so it is machine washable.

The hang in the photos is a little odd, because it's a men's vest, but is on a woman's mannequin that's also significantly smaller in size. There is a significant fitted shaping to the vest, but it's a little exaggerated by the dummy.

The pattern is an adaptation of several plates from the Handbook of Practical Cutting on the Centre Point System 1866, a book which is apparently now out of print and very expensive. If you are interested in making Mens' Victorian clothing and can afford this book, I highly recommend it. It is a modern edit of a Victorian text describing how to draft and make tailored clothing, first published in 1866 and 1868. Most of the plates are of Men's clothing, but there are also some women's fashions and children's fashions.

The primary plate I referenced is on p. 43, figure 4 and figure 5. I widened the overlap of the double-breast from ~2" to ~4". I also split the back panel into two pieces, referencing some of the basic coat patterns for a proper curve to give a fine tailored shape to the back of the vest. The basic size is perfect for the fellow who will be receiving the vest, so I did not have to make any alterations to the dimensions.

Final Version: