My “little” sister just had a birthday.  Happy Birthday Kat!!!!

And, I made her something she can use for her day job at a dental office.  Her other job is sewing and designing costumes for the renaissance festival’s clothiers and of course being super Mom to my 2 feisty, um…., wild,  um…. AWESOME, nephews.

So, I wanted to share some pictures and some sewing tips for her two new tops that I just finished at about 2 am this morning…..   Sometimes I just can’t stop sewing  until it’s finished.  You know the feeling?

Photos & Close-ups of Spiffy Scrub Tops for Kat!

Please Scroll Down for some sewing tips……

Front View Teal Scrubs

Teal Scrubs Back View

Batik Scrubs Front View

Neckline Detail - Triple Row of Stitches

Neckline Detail - Decorative Stitching - MC6600

Side Slits - Top Stitching

Patch Pockets w/ Serged Band Hem Cuff

Sewing Tips:

I used my serger and sewing machine to complete these 2 tops.  When serging, I like to pin parallel to the seam so I don’t accidentally run over a pin with my cutting blade.

Parallel pinning when serging

This top has facings that are under-stitched to keep them from rolling to the outside of the garment when wearing.  I used my ditch stitching foot to help me sew close to the seam and catch the seam allowance.  I laid my fabric right side up for this.

I moved the needle slightly to the right of the flange so that I could stitch on the facing and close to the seam.

In many casual-wear patterns, you don’t have to “set-in” sleeves the traditional way.  Instead you can sew the shoulder seams first and then attach the sleeves.  After that, you can sew up the side seams….  See…?

I like to lay my garment & the sleeve right side up and align the pieces to make sure my sleeves don't end up backwards.

Can you see the triangle notches on the arm-hole area and on the edge of the sleeve cap? This helps me make sure that the front of the sleeve cap is getting sewn to the arm-hole front....

Then I lay the fabrics right sides together and pin them to death with about a million pins.

Here’s a closer look:

One million and one, one million and two... BTW, tailor's hams come in handy when shaping a garment.

After the sleeve is pinned, I use my sewing machine to baste the seam. Once it's basted, I serge the seam on my serger.

Here’s a closer look:

I love the clean finish that my serger provides.

Once the sleeve caps are sewn in, the next step is to pin the underarm and side seams and serge!

Whew! We're almost done!

The last things were to press and top stitch the side slits, hem the sleeves and bottom edge of scrubs.  I used my tailor’s ham to help with some of that and also with pressing the neckline.

Tailor's Ham: Very helpful pressing tool.

That’s all for now!

Thanks for reading!

Stay tuned for my promised next blog post of:  Placemat Love Part 2 – Binding Technique (no hand sewing required – BooYah!)

Oh, and, it’s not too late to enter our current prize drawing!  Click on image below to find out more.

Let’s get sewing!

Jenny Gabriel – alter ego:  StitchinJenny