Simplicity 8265 - A Ponte Vest

One of my goals this year was to add more toppers to my wardrobe. I love wearing vests and wanted more of them in my wardrobe. The ones featured in the post above are worn quite frequently during the spring, fall and winter (except for the brown herringbone which was purged during the great donation). They are a great multi-season garment.

I bought Simplicity 8265 strictly for the vest pattern. I loved the dart detail on the front though I'm not so happy about no closures on the front. I'm starting this journey with the largest size available in this pattern, a size 24. The finished hip measurements are 58" so I will need to do some slashing and spreading to get the garment to work.

We're heading into spring and warmer weather here on the East Coast in the USA and I was going to put this away until fall.  Then I saw Marica's version and realized that this would still work on the cooler spring days. So I went ahead and finished mine. This was cut out in February like the Pink Bow Tie Blouse so it's great finally getting both projects done.

Materials Used ~
- 3 yards gray ponte knit from Fabric Mart so collection fabric!!!
(purchased before 2015 because that's the last invoice on file at their site and this invoice number is lower)

Pattern Alterations ~
The front, back and facing piece were shortened to 37" because I wanted a knee length vest.

I increased the front piece to 31" around at the hipline by adding 1/2" to the side. Then slashing and spreading the pattern adding 1/2" in the center front.

The same alterations were done to the back. I did NOT add to the center back seam because I was concerned it would throw off the way the vest hung but ended up added a 1/4" for just a little more space. Hoping that won't greatly alter the way the vest hangs.

Using 1/2" seam allowances, this gives me a finished measurement of 61" which is 3" wider than my sitting hip measurements.

Construction Info. ~
This is an easy to construct garment and I made no significant changes to the construction. I lightly glanced at the instruction sheet because easy garment.

-  I added some topstitching to the pocket openings on the vest fronts.
-  The facings were serge finished and then stitched flat
-  I omitted the armhole facings because why?
-  And the facings aren't interfaced. Maybe if my fabric was lighter but I saw no need with the medium weight ponte. 

Pictures of the finished vest ~

Conclusion ~
This was a quick and easy sew. Even though I originally planned to add a closing on the front, I finished this without one. And now here's the twist, I don't like it. I don't like the way it hangs. I don't like the fact that it doesn't close in the front and that the opening is really wide. It's not how I thought it would be. If you look in the picture above, the pocket is gaping. Without moving in the right way, pulling and tugging on the vest, it just fits horribly.

I'm getting ready to put together a donation pile soon because I'll be changing my winter wardrobe over to my spring one.  This is going into the donation pile. It doesn't work the way I want it to and I'm not holding onto it hoping for the best. 

I know it seems like bloggers only share the winners or the amazing garments, this is a dud FOR ME! It has nothing to do with the pattern and all to do with it not being the right style for ME. This is supposed to be a loose-fitting type vest. Mine is closer fitting and so not the silhouette I wanted.  Okay hopefully I've stressed that enough so y'all won't leave comments about how I should keep it. Ain't gonna happen.

So what's up next...I'm working on another Dover Jacket. I bought the fabric from Metro Textiles and was totally enthralled with it so it didn't even make it to the shelves.

...as always more later!