Greetings
Many many years ago I made a Regency fantasy costume called the Purple Pimpernel.
This was a Regency suit in goth colours. It had black britches, a black shirt and stock with black and gold lace, a cut-away coat in crush purple velvet and a silk grosgrain waistcoat. This had a broad chequer board edge to it which I used for the lapels.
Unfortunatly, thirty years of fighting in armour has caused my shoulders to get wider and , whilst the coat fit beautifully across the back, this effect was ruined when I raised my arm and recvealed four inches of wrist, so I sold the coat on.
The waistcoat still fit, howecver. Well... nearly.
I had a choice. I could move the buttons, or I could make the waistcoat wider. I checked my fabric stash and found that I had a fair bit of the silk left, so I decided that , not only would I make the waistcoat wider, but I would also use more of the chequerboard silk on the facing of my new coat.
This way I would not have to make a new waistcoat for my new Regency suit.
I, therefore added two silk panels to the side seams of the waistcoat.
This alteration will be invisible from the front and I was rather pleased now neatly the grain lined up.
Here's a close up showing the chequerboard grain on the lapels and collar
