I've Tied the Knot - with the Peony Vest!

Yes, the courtship is complete, and how appropriate that the last step did indeed involve a knot!

This one, to be precise (more on that bit of the ceremony later):

The head scratching moments I had towards the end, while trying to get the jagged, wavy hemline to lie flat after all of the fitting adjustments I made (in spite of a muslin that I thought fit well...::shrug::) was definitely a lesson or seven around making sure that your lining - including grainline - matches the outer piece(s) perfectly!

Which mine, clearly, did not.  With all of the odd-shaped pieces, and a slippery silk habotai lining, and multiple side seam adjustments along with even more hemline adjustments.... well, by the time I was actually matching the lining pieces to the hemline I had more unmatched edges than I thought possible!  Have I mentioned that there was no room for error at the hemline?  That the lining pieces were just supposed to be exactly the same length and angle as each of the pieces of the vest?  What planet was I sewing on when I thought THAT would magically happen after all of the alterations I made???

I finally managed to get the hemline lying (relatively) flat and smooth, but on the last panel....well....a picture is worth a thousand words.   This is not one of my proudest sewing moments:

The good news is that you can't see the ugliness from the outside, 

and all of the other segments actually turned out quite well.   

In comparison anyway.  

And with a lot of handstitching.

Oh yeah, I had a bit of an "aha" moment - when I was trying to figure out how to get as many of the lining seams sewn by machine as possible (I'd long since given up on trying to follow the pattern directions), I ended up with something that looked an awful like like a bag full of fabric - is this why they call it a bagged lining?   Of course, I may be way off on that (oh, the pages I could fill with what I don't yet know about linings!), but it made sense to me...

A note on the knots - the very last step!   I had some bits of bias strips made from the charmeuse print, and I wanted to make some sort of non-button buttony things to place here & there.  I was making some rather unsuccessful rolls, when serendipity knocked on my bloggy door & took me over to this tutorial at Handmade by Carolyn.  PERFECT!   I whipped up a few knotty buttons - super easy by following her excellent instructions.   The only thing I did differently was to use a large, very blunt needle to pull my bias strip through itself, and I just made several knots on one strand before cutting them  (that's the frugal me who doesn't want to waste any of that precious fabric!).

Finished "button",  on an an evenly hanging hem!   *whew*

The only "real" button on the vest - 

it's a wannabe leather look - actually plastic, but a perfect match, I thought!

A few more closeups:

The next step in our journey is expanding our group of friends to play with.  Initially, I actually thought the Peony was going to play well with things like blue jeans & boots, but, well.....not so much.   I did find a few combos in my closet that were happy to go out & play with us, but I'll be keeping my eye out for some new potential playmates as well.

Here are some of the options:

 I only have one top that I feel really works with the vest (white would be OK, but, well....who has NO white tops in their closet???  That would be me....  Well, I do have a couple of summer blouses, but nothing with any actual substance, that could be worn under an Autumn vest....)  So with only one top (this Citron silk blouse...which I love - when I was still buying RTW, I was definitely a Citron addict....) my bottom layer was a bit limited.   These RTW pants worked well though.

I also like it with this Decades of Style Arches skirt 

The color looks a bit odd in this photo,
but it's a perfect match for the green in the charmeuse print:

Add my yummy new Harlequin Feltworks scarf,  and I love the look!

And then there's the slightly Bohemian bent.
This look reminds me that a bright, colorful piece actually pairs well with a solid neutral look to coordinate.  I've never really been that much of a matchy-matchy person, but as I try to refine my style I'm  beginning to understand how matchy matchy can be a very good thing, in some circumstances.

The bottom line?   Someone needs new boots and shoes.   And fabric for some more tops.  Must budget for that......

All in all, the journey's been a fun one!   It went slowly mostly because of other life 'stuff' - I'm noticing that I'm becoming a much more patient sewist when I take missteps...they're all learning opportunities, and I prefer the slow and steady aspect of the journey, especially when I'm working on something "special".

Like, you know, a long-term relationship.