More bits and pieces....

Can you believe that until yesterday, I had exactly one pair of cut-offs? Shocking! And I love wearing them, despite the fact that I need to darn the holes in them, and despite the fact that they're looking ratty. They've been well-loved. This weekend, I found an old pair of jeans that were still in great shape, and that actually fit reasonably well. (I'll have to wear a belt with them, I'm sure, but I can live with that.) Time for a new pair of cut-offs!

However, I really didn't want them to get ratty too fast. I thought about using bias tape or hem facings, but I didn't think of it before I cut them, and I didn't want to lose any more length. Instead, I decided to try binding the edges with swimsuit fabric. I had an understated black/white rose print that I thought would be perfect. And it was! I can't wait to wear them.

I also finally finished the other Patrick Curved Raglan Seam shirts for Things 1&2. I've had these cut out for months and decided to leave off the long sleeves. We'll see how well the boys like these, but they love dinosaurs, so I think they'll be a big hit. The dino fabric is a jersey I bought from a coop years ago, the browns are interlock and ribbing from JAF.

I also finished a pair of khaki scrub pants - no pics yet, as they went straight into the wash to get the spray adhesive out of the cargo pocket. Next up: a pair of chocolate brown scrub pants for me and a pair of dark brown cargo shorts for Thing 1. After that, more scrubs, I think....

Odds and Ends

First up, finished items! As I am transitioning into surgery four days a week at an animal shelter, I have a need for more scrubs. I finished a shirt (M9123) using a cotton print I bought at least five years ago at a WM in Mississippi, planning to use it for a friend. Well, now I decided it was here and would be used by me! I have already worn it to work once and was asked where I buy my scrubs. ;) For this, I also used the bound neckline and pattern-matched the upper pocket. I have decided for the moment that I don't really need the lower pockets for surgery, so I'm leaving them off. Instead, an upper pocket for a pen and a cargo pocket on the pants for a cell phone, and I'm good to go.

Next, the second pair of solid shorts for Thing 1. I bought a khaki twill on sale at JAF and used B3475 again. This time, I shortened the pattern by two inches. I think I will shorten it another inch on the next pair. I didn't shorten the pockets or alter the placement, but I think I need to raise the placement a little for the next pair, so that the pockets aren't below the hem.

I lined the pocket flap again. I am a little annoyed with myself, because I didn't look at the previous pair to see how I did the stitching. On the previous pair, I echoed the double topstitching on both pocket and flap, but this time, I did single topstitching on the flap. I definitely don't think that this pair looks as good. Oh, well....next time.And what's to come? Well, I'm currently working on inventing a padded case for Thing 1's Didj. He really likes playing with it but has no case in which to store it or the games. We just discovered that he has lost one game in the last several months, so I upped this in the priority list. So far, I have quilted the fabric with two layers of Warm&Natural batting in between and bound all the raw edges of the pieces with black swimsuit fabric, as I am not lining it. I plan to install a zipper in the main compartment, and I am adding a zippered pocket to each side, for storing games and headphones. I hope to finish it today.

I also found a blog tutorial for making toy sacks with clear plastic windows, to see what toys are inside. Eureka! This may be the thing for attempting to contain all the toys on the toy table. I've got two sacks cut out and in the process of being made. I have a bunch more planned, too. I'm using prints from my stash for the outside and solid broadcloth for the lining. I even had tablecloth vinyl in my stash already! I am so convinced that this will go well, that I bought more solid broadcloth on sale at JAF this week. But the two in progress are completely from stash, and I'm making both at once because I'm using the same lining and thus can use the same color thread for topstitching. I'm okay with some assembly-line work.

Otherwise, there's more scrubs in the line-up, so hopefully I'll have a new top and pants to wear to work this week.

Shorts for the Things

The Things have very few solid colored shorts, which is bad when I like to make them print T-shirts. So I decided it was time to do something about that, especially since I'm starting to make the button-front shirts and they'll need something to wear with those. Thing 1 possibly has the greater need, since no one expects a four-year-old to match anything, right? So I decided to try the shorts pattern in B3475, but they looked awfully long. Still, I made size 4 as is, to see how they would turn out. After all, I see a lot of kids at Thing 1's school wearing long shorts, so apparently it's the style.

I used a greyish stretch twill/denim that I bought at WM a few years ago. It seemed kind of boring, so I used bright green to topstitch. Just for fun.

There are cargo pockets on both sides, so I didn't see the need to add slash pockets.

And I decided to line the pocket flaps to make them look better. For these, I used a leftover bit of a fish pucker print. (This became summer shorts for both Things two summers ago.) I think it's a nice touch.

I had intended to make Thing 2 a similar pair in a size 2, but my fabric piece wasn't large enough to cut out both pairs. Instead, I cut another pair of KS SFT shorts in size T4. I also used green thread for topstitching these, and the pocket bags are a solid green.

A little Bugs Bunny

This is the Bugs Bunny scrub shirt I sewed for a friend's husband. He found the print, but there wasn't enough for what the pattern needed. So I asked how they felt about using a coordinating grey cotton to make up the difference, and they thought that'd be okay. It still posed some problems. I used the grey to do a bias bound neckline and add a contrast band to the chest pocket, mostly to tie it together, and I added a band at the bottom with the grey. The problem still lies in the fact that he likes lots of pockets, and I couldn't figure out how to do lower pockets. I don't have enough of the Bugs Bunny left to make full-size pockets, and I don't think it would look right, anyway, since they'd be partly on the grey band. I think that pockets that were grey at the bottom and Bugs Bunny for the rest would look weird. And if I just made the pockets from the edge of the Bugs Bunny up, they'd be too small to be useful. So I chickened out and sent it as is, with a note to let me know how they wanted the pockets, if he really needed them. Nothing like passing the buck. ;)

Of last weekend's pile, I have now finished the new scrub shirt for me - the dogs in carriers print. I'll get photos when it's out of the wash. The two Patrick Curved Raglan Seam shirts just need neckbands to be done. The alien shirt needs hems and buttonholes, and the dinosaur shirt needs the same plus sideseams. I'm also about to cut out two more pairs of scrub pants and another scrub shirt, as I'll be wearing scrubs at least four days a week, starting next week, and I definitely don't have enough, without doing laundry every other day. Hopefully those will work up fast.

New stuff....

So the last time I was at Hobby Lobby, I saw that cotton prints were 30% off, and I found another Robert Kaufman Army print that I liked, so I bought it to make boxers for my dad, with the vague thought of getting them done for Father's Day. Clearly, that did not happen - mainly because I decided that I just had other priorities for Father's Day....such as my husband's new shirt. But these have been done for a week or so, and I just realized that I never showed them off! (S9958, size L)

And here is the pile that was my weekend intentions....which didn't get done, of course! From left to right: 2 Patrick Curved Raglan Seam shirts (one for each Thing), green scrub pants, fabric for a scrub shirt, Thing 1's new shirt, and Thing 2's new shirt.
But at least I finished the scrub pants! This is M9359, size M. Minimal alterations - I skipped the inseam pockets, added a cargo pocket to the right leg for my cell phone or anything else that seems necessary, and used 1/2-inch twill tape for a drawstring instead of elastic and self-fabric. The cargo pocket has a finished size of 7.25 inches wide by 8 inches deep. I placed it with the intent of the top being 12 inches below the top of the waist casing, but I forgot that the casing was for a 1/2-inch drawstring rather than an inch wide elastic. So the pocket is a bit lower than I had wanted. I will wear this another time or two before making the next ones to decide on a better placement.

I made these from symphony broadcloth (JAF) and wore them the day after I finished them. I was concerned that the fabric might be too thin and possibly see-through, but this color at least did not have that problem. It will be interesting to see how well it holds up to repeated washings, but at least for the first wearing, it seems thin enough to be cool in a warm surgery suite but not too thin to be useful. I bought a second color at the same time, so I will definitely make it up soon, and as long as it also wears well, I'll be buying more later on.

Friday Musings....

No pictures today. I finished another scrub shirt, but that will be its own post once I download the picture. And I'm down to hems and waist on a pair of boxers, so that, too, should be coming over the weekend. I cut out another shirt for DH - this time back to the earlier weight of broadcloth. He still hasn't worn the new grey shirt, so I don't know how he'll like that weight, but I know that he likes the weight of the navy one I made during the winter, because he wears it all the time! ;) This one will be burgundy, however, and it will have the buttons that were supposed to be on the navy one - oops!

Otherwise, I'm hoping to get back to work on the next size prototype shirts for the Things. That's getting a bit ridiculous, especially if I'm ever going to actually sew the dragon shirts. So hopefully those next ones will be done this weekend, maybe in time for the Fourth of July party we're going to. And I have a bunch of luggage tags to sew - all the interfacing is already fused, so it should be ready to go. And I cut out another scrub shirt for my friend's husband, but I don't want to start it until I get feedback on the one I just mailed. I used the new neckline binding, and I want to know how he likes that before I do the next one in the same way.

That's about it for now!