So I've 'settled' into Sweden for my extended vacation and as a result, I have finally started sewing on Fredrik's pieces. I decided to begin with the waistcoat...for whatever reason. Before I did any proper sewing I spent yesterday afternoon tracing the patterns Mark and Neal made for me onto tracing paper to use on the fabric. Fredrik's coat is so monsterous that tracing that is going to be a big pain all in itself so I am just going to wait to do that until I actually beging the project.So far the waistcoat has been easy peasy. I cut out all the pieces (a whopping 4). In plain white linen. I haven't cut out the silk fabric front yet, but the lining is done just so that way I could check the fit on Fredrik before I go into the silk. He tried it on yesterday and after realizing that he's going to have to carry his posture in a proper way, we saw that the fit worked.
Today I have backed stitched the center seam of the 2 back pieces together and am now doing a slip stitch on either side to finish the edges. I'm trying to remember the extant pieces I've seen in the past and I'm fairly confident this is exactly how it was done. I couldn't quite decide what to do at first, but I decided on this method for 2 reasons. Smoothness to the back and also balance with stitching on either side.
That's where I am at for now. Hopefully I can finish the waistcoat this week/end....keep your fingers crossed!