A SEAMSTRESS preparing costumes for an amateur drama production believes she has uncovered a former Prime Minister’s waistcoat.

Wardrobe mistress Jan Castle, 71, had been doing some late-night sewing to prepare for the Sinodun Players’ upcoming production of Alan Ayckbourn’s Improbable Fiction at Wallingford’s Corn Exchange theatre.

While working on a black waistcoat, she came across a label for London tailors Palmer & Thorpe and the name of the man it was originally made for: ‘Rt Hon S Baldwin MP, December 1930’.

Nobody knows how the waistcoat ended up in the Players’ wardrobe, but Mrs Castle said it had been there for at least 30 years.

Grandmother-of-two Mrs Castle said: “It was about 1.15am, and I was undoing the side of the waistcoat to put in velcro for a quick costume change in Improbable Fiction. “I released the back band, and there was the label.

“It had been completely hidden from view. We had never seen this before.

“I was so excited I wanted to wake my husband up.”

The garment has been worn in countless Sinodun Players productions, and has been sported by Mrs Castle’s husband Ken at three of the town’s Victorian Evenings in the run- up to Christmas.

Mrs Castle, who has been the Players’ wardrobe mistress for 30 years, said: “It is a beautiful waistcoat lined with white checked wool.

“There is a matching jacket, but I have had a good look and have been unable to find a label.

“We have come across a lot of designer stuff in the wardrobe over the years – we’ve got what I think is an Erté dress from the 1920s.”

Erté was the pseudynom of Romain de Tirtoff, an artist noted for his work in areas as diverse as fashion, graphic design and interior decor.

Mrs Castle admitted members of the group had to look up what three-time Prime Minister Mr Baldwin to find out what he was famous for.

In the play, which runs from Tuesday, March 23, to Sunday, March 27, the waistcoat will be worn by Dan Beecham, who plays a member of a writing circle who act out each others’ stories.