Guatemalan Vest

This handwoven vest was worn by my Grandma Ruth when she was a missionary in Ecuador.
I'd been planning on remaking it with some navy corduroy so that it would fit my 'Aunt' Beth..who loves the colors in it!

I wanted to bring her the vest when I stayed at her farm again for Jon's graduation....so of course I started sewing it on Thursday! ( yes my flight was that night!)


It was a little complicated at first, because the hand-woven fabric frayed so easily that I couldn't take out the original seams without destroying it. Taking the advise of my local fabric store, I decided to sew some hem tape as close to the seam as I could.


After that I just cut out the seams and wrapped the hem tape around the loose edge. It made it so much easier to handle and sew later.



Next I needed to re-shape the armholes and add in the side fabric. I had copied the shape of the correct size onto this piece of paper. I also noticed the facing would not work for the new armholes.


So I lined up the fabric of the vest and the blue corduroy and cut them to match the curve of the armhole shape I had traced earlier.


Next, I sewed the side up. I also noticed I would need to cut out new facing for the new shape of the armholes.

As I had no pattern, I needed to trace the new shape of the vest to make a facing pattern

Before I got on the plane, this is what it looked like--all ready for the hand-sewing.


Thank goodness it fit just right! =)