Lookee here! It’s finally done. I finished the second arm hole, neck and weaving in the ends last night. It fits perfectly! I didn’t have to modify the neck like I thought. It wasn’t too small for my fat head after all.
What I would do differently next time …
Make the overall length a big longer, probably just by another 2 inches. I measured for a favorited cropped sweatshirt, which is fine if I’m making a that cropped sweater I wanted (next project), but a vest should be a wee bit longer to cover the small of my back while sitting down (okay, good posture would also solve that one).
Make the width a wee bit bigger too. It’s a little too fitted for a normal vest (and losing some weight would help here too).
Instead of 1.5″ of ribbing for the neck and arm holes, I would go with 1″ — scale everything down. It’s currently the same length as the ribbing around the bottom, and I think the scale is off. But that’s what they recommended in the pattern book.
Be a little more careful about stitching a straight line/even curves so that the arm holes match. I was so careful about pinning the cutouts so that I have an even number of “bars” on either side of the neck line, but then when I stitched, I shifted one stitch. Now the pattern is off.In any case, the “fitted” part is perfect to go under my armoured jacket (for my scooter). Since that is a fitted jacket, I can’t wear anything too bulky underneath it. So, the vest, despite the above, is perfect for its intended purpose. It has the added advantage of being double layered (fairisle) so that if I don’t decide to zip the jacket all the way to the neck, I won’t get as chilled.
All in all, I’m quite happy with the results and glad for the practice before the Kilim jacket.
