TRANSfiguration Tuesday…planning Buttonbox

Ok, so…the modifications I’m making to buttonbox. If anyone has missed the reference: Buttonbox is a femme waistcoat, and I want a more masc one. However, this is the best starting point I’ve found. So, let’s have a go a modifying a pattern. The main changes I want to make are:

• Add more length. My trousers hang lower on my body when I’m going masc, to hide my hips, and I want the waistcoat to reach the top of my trousers, plus maybe an inch or two (I might need more buttons with this bit)
• Remove as much of the waist shaping as I can get away with. I’m not sure if I can get rid of all of it, given the massive difference between my hip and waist measurement (and I need to measure myself with my binder on to know how my masc bust fits into that madness)
• Change the scoop neck to a v-neck and start the decreases earlier. Also do fewer decreases so the neckline is pulled in closer to my neck. This also then means I have to do more decreases at the shoulder side to keep the length of the shoulder seams (for want of a better descriptor) the same. I may have to fudge the back for this- someone suggested short rows, which won’t be necessary (I think) b/c I can put any extra necessary length into it after I split for the armholes
• Keep the smaller shawl collar rather than the newer version with the larger shawl.
• Put in a ticket pocket. They’re neat, and I do a lot of travelling by train, so it would actually be really useful
• The classic put the buttons on the other side (assuming I don’t forget this when knitting the buttonband…)

If anyone has any other suggestions, either on these or completely different at all, feel free to suggest them in the comments 🙂