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Sunday, November 15, 2009

Simplicity 4378

We're still not sleeping, so I've been getting grumpier by the day - missing my favorite therapy - so my sweet hubby shuttled me off to the sewing room yesterday, and I go to sew all morning! Turns out, I was working on a second trial of scrubs for him, so we both got something out of the deal. My first attempt at a scrub set for him resulted in scrubs that were too big in the top, too long in the rise and too short. Hmm - not really wearable. He also told me that he prefers a set-in sleeve. Would you believe that I could only find one scrubs pattern that has a set in sleeve!! This is it. Simplicity 4378.
I even checked Kwik Sew, Burda and Ebay/Etsy. This was it.
Anyway, here they are. I made both the top and the pants from the pattern. Tracing Mitch's favorite scrub pants didn't work, since the fabric was so different, it changed the way it felt to him, so I decided to scrap that and start over. These pants had the features that Mitch was looking for, so I gave them a go. We like them! The fit isn't perfect, but he loves the pockets. So did I! The pocket and facings were all one piece, so you just folded it to form the pocket bag. Way cool! The only changes I made were to move the cargo pockets to the rear and added a self-fabric casing. The pattern called for a ribbon, which I thought was weird. They fit fairly well, although I'll add a bit to the width next time, just for comfort. Mitch is a runner, so he likes a little extra room in the thigh. The drawstring, per the pattern is self-fabric with an elastic component. Self-fabric drawstrings don't bear the weight of several pagers and phones well, so I used cotton strapping as usual, but the idea of the elastic was interesting, so I gave it a go. Mitch isn't sure he's sold on the idea, so we'll see how it performs.
From the back, you can see that the top is quite snug across the shoulders.
Up closer - the sleeves are really straining. Good thing I double stitched those seams! The top is going to need some serious reworking. Obviously, I'll be altering the fit in the shoulders. I also really dislike the neckline. It is faced and topstitched, a treatment I have never seen in RTW scrubs. And can we talk about what a pain that was!? I definitely prefer the band, but I may try a mitered binding for the next one, since that is generally what you see in RTW.
Tomorrow Mitch is going to wear them to work for a road test, so we'll see, but I think we are nearly there!