Altering the Poppy Vest by The Sewing Workshop

I made this Poppy Vest in the spring of 2008 out of a pale yellow linen. I didn't wear it much because the exaggerated yellow tail in the back made me feel like a duck.

So, thinking about the pieces I wanted to sew out of the black and white checked rayon knit that looks so good with yellow, I thought,  "What about altering this vest to make a sleeveless swing jacket to wear with those?"     The back of the vest is entirely on the bias so I went to work.    When I don't wear something, it either goes to the thrift store or the consignment store, depending on what the consignment store will take.   I had nothing to lose, so I cut the tail off my ducky vest, measured and pinned it up on my form,    The bias in the back makes it swing out nicely.   The asymmetry and bias was a challenge, but I'm not deterred by challenges in sewing or what life hands out.    Here are photos of it pinned up.    The bias hung out over the years, so that wasn't a problem.   After I got it looking fairly symmetrical,  I pressed and trimmed the hem,

Here is what it looks like now,  hem trimmed, top-stitched and pressed after I put the vest in the laundry today.   I'm happy with how it looks,  and will be getting a lot more wear out of it with my black and white coordinates.    I also replaced the button with a pale yellow one.   Before I started, I called The Sewing Workshop to see if they had any suggestions for doing this.   In my  conversation with Kathy,  coincidentally she said they were playing around with this pattern, doing exactly what I did,  except using knits to make this vest.    You don't even have to finish the hem...  Hmmmm.....

Striped knit dress from Anthropologie