August 27, 2010

Simplicity Pattern B5301 Review

A very good friend of mine just became a nurse. Yahoo!! No It's kinda funny, this was the friend of mine who couldn't stand blood back in the day.

Yea, she's a nurse, and a kick-a one at that. (I am pretty sure she's over the blood thing by now...)

What do you get for a new/just graduated nurse?? Well, you don't get them anything, you make them some hot-to-trot scrub tops!

Now, I am not one to just pull something like scrubs out of my butt without a pattern the first go round, or second, or third, for that matter. Thankfully there is a sale on patterns at almost all times at Joann's.

$1.99 for the Simplicity B5301.

(Photo courtesy of Butterick.com)

So, of course I had to go buy some fabric for this... heaven forbid I use my stash... hehe.

I used butcher paper to transfer the pattern onto this time. I usually just use tissue paper for wrapping presents, but I knew I was going to make a couple of these. I stacked the fabric on the fold to cut out the fronts and backs, then just rearranged what was left to cut out the pockets, sleeves, and collar.


On to the actual review:

Pattern Description: This description is from the pattern envelope:

The V-neck scrub top features comfortable t-shirt ease, shirt sleeves, and styled pockets. The specially fitted sleeves allow more arm movement for a full-figured woman. The elastic waist pants with side seam pockets have been specially drafted to fit the correct waistline slant of a full-figured woman. Directions for a drawstring waistline are also included.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yea, it was a drawing, so it wasn't all cartoon-y (hehe), but it did look a lot like the drawing, the top doesn't have waist definition like the drawing though.

Written Instructions: The written instructions are very clear, easy to follow, and have ample amounts of photos.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I like how the pattern chose to instruct sewing the sleeves on. I like sewing a sleeve on before sewing the side seams.

Fabric Used: I just used woven cotton, the fabric that the pattern recommends.

Level Of Difficulty: I would say that this is a good beginner pattern. The collar is a little tricky, but it's more maneuvering of fabric than the actual pattern itself.  
 
Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:
The only tip I have for the pattern is to sew the bottom pockets on about 1/2 inch above where it is marked on the pattern. I suggest this because the first one I assembled, the hem would have been sewn about 1/2 inch up into the actual pocket, no good.
 
Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? Yup, I would sew it again. I am making 3 of them. I would recommend this pattern.

Conclusion: This pattern is very well written, and even has instructions in it to alter it for common body shapes that the basic pattern was not drafted for, like a fuller bust, petite or tall sizes, and even pear shapes.



On a final note, I would just like to apologize to all nurses, you do some of the most important work and yet you wear clothing that makes you look very blob-ish. I am truly sorry, not that my typical jeans & t-shirt wardrobe is that much better...

2 comments:

  1. I have the same pattern and have found the collar very difficult for me. It gathers at the point. Not sure what I'm doing wrong.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I did notice this with the first one I made, and I found the middle of the collar, and the middle of the neck back, and pinned somewhat closely all the way around the neck. This helped a lot.

    ReplyDelete

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