Scrub-A-Dub-Dub

Finally done! (Click on the pics for bigger versions.) These are all from Kwik Sew 3201, a plus-sized scrubs pattern I used for the first time on these. They're huge on my dressform because my sister is taller and plus-ier than me. I hope they fit. I did make a full-bust adjustment and sewed the dart, because she's bustier than me too (hard to believe!).


There's no way I could ever be a real assembly-line sewer. Making 3 of these at the same time drove me nuts. And these are easy. I lost all desire to be creative and instead I just wanted them DONE. So, no sparklies or fancy stitching. But I think the fabrics are busy enough anyway.

Oh wait. I take that back. I did get "creative" (term used very loosely here). For two of them, I sewed the back facing on so it faced outward. I'm going to do this from now on because what's the point of using pretty fabrics if they don't show? I also used the contrast on the blue version to edge the sleeves instead of fold-up hems, and I edged the pockets on the orange top. The greenish top is just plain-jane, sewn as per the pattern.


None of the pockets match up with the print below because I didn't get enough fabric to fussy cut them. The only one that was going to look particularly odd was the orange top, which is why I banded the pocket tops … gotta make it look like it was planned, y'know! But I did line up the general colors of the striping effect so unless you're looking (and I know you are now), they look like they match up. The other prints are busy enough that the pockets blend right in.

The last thing (well, actually one of the first things) was to cut the orange fabric cross-grain so that the striping effect runs vertical instead of horizontal. I'm glad I caught that optical effect before cutting.

I'll be dropping these at the PO on our way out to dinner. Whew!

Friday Miscellany

It's been a full two days since I committed to finishing those scrubs and still they are not done. I was all set to sew up a scrub storm on Wednesday but then I laid on my bed to read for a bit first and yep, out like a light. My sparse sleeping hours caught up with me. That's OK, I needed it.

I do have one of the tops finished and one to the point of hems. The other is still sitting on the cutting table. I had to switch gears with it. It was supposed to be made from my new crossover scrubs pattern but silly me neglected to look at the fabric requirements before ordering the fabric and, well, I'm short. By a lot. And there's no more to be ordered. I had already cut the back when I figured this out. Luckily, I could cut the back piece of the other pattern from it without losing a thing. So my sister won't be getting a new style this round. She'll live. ;-)

It's raining today so the dogs and I are inside but that means I'll have a few hours to finish up the scrubs (IwillIwillIwillIwill) before I need to get ready for dinner out tonight. It's my first-born son's 18th birthday today. How did THAT happen?

More than eighteen years ago a sonogram had told us we were having a son. I had wanted to have a daughter and was a bit sad that I wasn't. Then on the morning of March 16th, 1989 I was laying in the operating room of a Washington, D.C. hospital feeling weirdly outside of myself while my my abdomen was cut open for a planned C-section. Less than an hour later I was madly, deeply in love. Daughter? No way! I wanted a son, MY SON! Every day has been a joy with my "baby" and I feel privileged and proud to be his mother. I get glimpses of the man he is becoming, although he is still my little boy in some ways, and I like what I see. We've had a special bond since the day we officially met and we've always been close. I know we always will be, no matter where life takes him. Happy Birthday Tyler!

Anticipating a Good Day

I haven't sewn in DAYS and I'm dying here. But my other work is done for a while and I intend to hide out up in the sewing room most of the day. I *will* have my sister's scrubs finished before I go to bed or … or … well … I won't. LOL! But I'm going to give it my best shot. I must get those done ASAP so I can move on to more fun things — sewing for ME! :grin:

I should be getting a good haul in the mail/UPS today. I'm expecting some books, some fabric, and some doggie flea stuff, since the one down side to the dog park is picking up everyone else's fleas which necessitate flea baths for every park visit. (And it's so much cheaper to buy flea preventatives on the internet that I couldn't possibly justify running up to the vet's office instead, esp. when I've dropped over $600 there in the last 60 days. Claire, I feel your pain.) Plus my March Burda WOF and Ottobre Woman are still MIA. Hopefully they'll show up today too or very soon thereafter.

I already had a nice goodie delivery day yesterday so today will be gravy. Yesterday brought fabric (of course) which you've already seen. It's the print from my self-drafted crossover twist. I love the fabric so much I got more to hopefully turn into a summer dress (more on that later).

But the neatest thing was an Adele Margolis tailoring book, inscribed by the author herself in 1966! It's not addressed to me, naturally, but it was still a cool surprise to find.


I've slowly been making my way through all the used sewing books I've been acquiring lately. Some are good, some are meh. When I finish up here, I'm going to write up one review for PR. Others will follow over the next couple of weeks.

Oh, the dress I mentioned above. I realized the other day that I'm going to need a dress for my older son's high school graduation in May and also something for Mother's Day which comes before the graduation. I'm planning to do the 2 birds/1 stone thing and I've got my antenna up for a suitable style/pattern. Nothing has jumped out at me yet, but I've barely begun thinking on it. I'm sure there's something waiting in my pattern/magazine stash.

Sunday Bits and Pieces

I really should be working (as in real paying work) but I'm easily distracted. I don't have much to talk about sewing-wise but I thought I'd answer some of the comment questions while they're at the top of my inbox. If I wait too long, they'll be buried. ;-)

1. Scrubs fabric. It all came from Fabric.com.

2. Husbands in Joann's. Nope, I don't think I met any while I was there. :grin:

3. Hancock's patterns. Thank you Claire for your offer. I may take you up on that one day.

4. Hancock's patterns online: Yep, I knew I could buy them online for the sale price but the one I wanted wasn't yet listed. Impatience is my middle name.

5. Vacuum. I do plan on calling Sears tomorrow and requesting a prepaid shipping label at the very least. But I still need the part. Sigh.

I think that about covers things. I'm hoping I'll get some pics of my sister's scrubs up soon. But that would mean I actually have to start and finish them first. I'm really missing that hour we lost today!

Pattern Therapy

I've been wanting a specific Butterick pattern and keep missing the sales. Yes, Butterick is on sale at Hancock's right now, but, well, I just don't feel like driving all the way to Tampa to see if (1) the store even still exists, as lots of Hancocks have been closing and it's been a while since I've been there or (2) if they have the pattern and in my size. Yes, I have heard of the telephone but work with me here, OK?

So yesterday, after running an errand to Sears with DH (that's a rant I'll get to below), I decided we'd stop by Joann's so I could pop in and just buy the darn pattern and also browse for a bit. With DH waiting in the car, I knew I'd be less tempted to impulse buy. I had forgotten that J's has changed the everyday pricing on Buttericks to $5.99. With the price of gas lately, it would've cost nearly the difference in the sale price to drive to Hancock's so I'm not feeling too bad I "splurged." I also picked up a few Simplicities that were on sale. I probably wouldn't have bought them otherwise. But the pattern stash needs replenishing every other month or so, right? Even if I'll never sew but a fraction of those patterns in two lifetimes.

So, on to the rant … I have a Kenmore (Sears) canister vacuum. It's about 5 years old. It is not a bottom of the line model. It was not cheap. There's something wrong with the wheels on the "PowerMate" head. The thing still sucks perfectly fine, and I mean that in a good way. It just doesn't move smoothly like it used to and it feels like it's dragging when you use it. Like vacuuming isn't already a drag. But I'm not willing to buy an entire new vacuum when mechanically this one is just fine. Not yet.

I tried looking for a replacement head on Sears' parts website. Sigh. Nothing specific enough was listed. So I called the parts department. The guy I spoke with had me read off all the serial and model numbers — the canister and the head each have their own. Then he asked me a bunch of questions to make sure he had the right thing. He also said that the connector poles come with it. Hmm. Don't need those but no way to order just the head alone. Oh well. I gave him my credit card info and waited for the box to arrive.

Which it did last week. With the most completely wrong replacement head it could ever be. Let's start with the fact that my vacuum and the head are trendy RED. The replacement is 1970s BEIGE. Um, no. My original has a headlight on the front. Replacement? More beige plastic. Model numbers? Not even close. Poles? Mine are telescoping and get pretty long. Replacement? Short and non-telescoping. Grrrr.

Fast forward to yesterday. DH needed replacement blades for our riding mower (also red btw if it matters, and it doesn't.) We decided to combine missions and go to Sears together. DH carries in the big box with the vacuum stuff and our original head on top in case the non-online Sears people don't have the same clue like their online counterparts. (They don't.) The parts counter (if you call a tiny window near the rear exit door a counter) tells me they can't take it back there. The only place that takes back online parts purchases is the main parts center in Tampa. Wha???? I paid $16 in shipping for the wrong thing and now I have to spend close to the equivalent in gas to return it to a different location? Sigh.

And then we walked into the completely clueless and annoying saleswoman in the vacuum department. The model we have is still being made (it's now trendy orange) so I wanted to copy those model numbers, etc. from the floor model. She just could not understand what we were doing and at that point I was in a mood. It was not a chatty mood if you get my drift. She didn't.

(BTW and totally unrelated, while I was standing there copying the model numbers, a man was asking this woman if sewing machines were still in cabinets. Saleslady had yet another airheaded answer and was zero help to him, but the point I want to make is that he was looking for himself and his machines! I smiled to myself and nudged DH. Yay for male sewers!)

So, the box with the "replacement" is now sitting on my kitchen table while I fume and ponder. And my floors still need to be vacuumed. But DH will be swapping out the mower blades this afternoon.

Now do you see why we detoured to Joann's on the way home?

So, what did I buy?


B4986 - Love it!! It's next on my list, but in a knit.


S3837 - Interesting, now that I've seen the pattern pieces. Another layer over the boobs probably won't do me any favors, so it might be a permanent stash victim acquisition.


S4375 - Linda, was it you who made the jacket? Whoever it was, I've wanted the pattern since.


S3880 - A pants pattern available in plus sizing w/o an elastic waist. Had to buy it.


S4095 - I have a feeling I already have this one. (My Palm's batteries are dead and so my pattern list wasn't with me even if my dead Palm was.) But maybe not. Even if I don't have this particular pattern, I know I have all its parts within others. Knowing this, I bought it anyway. ;-)

But no fabric! Even though there were a few bolts that tempted me. DH was waiting in the car after all.

Oh, and just in case you're keeping score — No, I haven't made any progress on my sister's scrubs. I'm hoping to squeeze in some cutting time today and some sewing time over the weekend.