Quick Finish

That's me. Testing the finished product.

Thanks to Sweet Red Poppy I've finally found a scrub cap that fits and I like. And, this pattern is free! 

In one of those rare incidents, I did not change a thing. Nope, not one thing. I printed, taped, cut, and sewed exactly as instructed. Whew! Not an easy concept for me. But it's a winner.  

How do you find this freebie, you ask? Go to Sweet Red Poppy, click on Free Patterns in the navigation bar at the top. The very first one is the scrub cap. Voila! 
(Shh, listen, there are many other useful freebies.)

A couple of adjustments and we're happy.

This cap is already in Jenny's hands. She's going back to work as a dental hygienist in just a few short days. She's a germaphobe, in the worst way. Hates all the ickies!

It's a conundrum. I get to play hero for a moment. She loves me, what can I say?

Have a fabulous week. I hope it starts out with your being a sewing hero to someone. It's a sweet feeling.

Already? A Uniform Finish

Wishing you and your family a wonderful Independence Day!

On left the skirt that fits used for measurements; on right the new skirt

Are you aware that it's already time to start preparing for the next school year? Well, that's what I'm told anyway. Last weekend Jenny and Adam went shopping for uniforms for Marley. When they got home, Jenny asked me to remake an old uniform skirt into a "new" skirt that would fit Marley. The skirt was about three sizes too large and much too long. 

closures left intact

side seam with top-stitching to
hold hand-stitched basting

 I planned to rip out every seam and cut a new skirt from the pieces. But that wasn't necessary. The skirt has a zipper and a button closure in good condition so I decided to leave that intact. Instead I cut away the opposite side seam trimming off enough to fit Marley after sewing the seam back together. To make sure that the waistband looked good, I hand-stitched the different sections in place then top-stitched with the machine along the seams.

Hem, sewn on the machine rather than hand sewn 

Using a skirt that fit, I measured and sewed the hem. Then I pressed the whole skirt using sizing and lots of heat. The little skirt looks pretty good for something refashioned from a skirt that has been worn by three different girls. Uniform fabric is heavy, durable stuff, somewhat like men's khaki pants. It can take almost anything! When Marley outgrows this skirt, it will go to school for another little girl to wear. 

Final outcome

And so there we are: one grandie ready for school! Five more to go! Are you and yours getting ready for back-to-school yet?

Jenny's Skirt ~~ an alteration complete

Jenny bought a cute dress last week but waited to get home to try it on. It fit but she didn't like the feel or the look or something about the bodice. When you live with your personal alteration expert, you don't let an odd fit get in the way of what you want to wear. 

Jen peeled off the dress and promptly asked me to turn it into a skirt. A skirt. "Just make it into a skirt," she says, as though it's an ordinary thing to do. 

Of course, I don't make things easier for myself--smiling when a grand says, "Grandmay can make anything!" Or in this particular case, agreeing that turning a fitted dress into a skirt could be a possibility. 

I asked Jenny how much she paid, just to make sure I wouldn't be cutting into some expensive garment. It would not be returnable after my attempt. But she assured me "we" would be out only a few bucks if the worst happened.

A quick side note: the dress has a can-can slip! But it occurred to me that her generation may think that a can-can is a whole new idea.


I may have made entered the Sewing Hall of Fame by Jenny's estimation. Talk about pumped--for just a moment I thought she might strip down to her stepins, but she somehow contained herself. She slipped the skirt on over her sports shorts and did a happy dance in the middle of the kitchen with everyone around, laughing at her silliness. 

So how did I do it? It was actually quite simple: I cut the dress about two inches above the waistline, turned down the cut edge to make a casing (instead of a waistband) and finished off the zipper. Really, it was that easy and didn't take much time. 

I considered making a real waistband using the cut-off bodice, but the skirt has this little pointed dip in the front, and that concerned me. I went the safer route. Luckily, it all worked out once I fixed the zipper and added a hook and eye. I even had the forethought to take lots of pictures while stitching on the hook and eye. I'll write a tutorial for that later in the week. In the meantime, have a wonderful rest of the weekend and I'll see you tomorrow for Sunday Quilt Inspiration.