Commission - Bottle Green Tailcoat and Striped Satin Waistcoat

This will be a picture-heavy post!  My most recently-finished commission was for a green wool tailcoat with a velvet collar, and a satin waistcoat in a coordinating green and gold stripe.  My client requested fabric-covered buttons and hand-made buttonholes, so this commission took quite a bit longer than the other two.  I think the end result was worth it, though.

I do not have any photos of the customer wearing the garments this time, but I was able to get quite a few decent shots on a dress form at the Costume Design Center - my former employers were kind enough to let me borrow it for an afternoon.  I do not own a male dress form yet, but it's becoming increasingly clear that I need one!

The dress form seems to be larger than my customer at the midsection, which is why the lowest button on the waistcoat is straining slightly.  I also forgot to pull the sleeves of the shirt through the armholes, so that's adding extra bulk around the waist.

Having worked so hard on it, I wanted to get some detail shots.  I love how fabric-covered buttons look on a tailcoat:

The velvet collar really adds something, too.  I was thrilled to be able to match the color of the wool so perfectly:

I also took some photos of the waistcoat alone:

It's the little things, like pattern-matching on the welt pockets, that make me happy:

Hand-made buttons and buttonholes:

I matched the stripes of the buttons with the stripes of the ground fabric, as well:

If you'd like to see some in-progress shots, check out my Instagram.  #bottlegreentailcoat and #stripedsatinwaistcoat