Ironically, I decided to document my process of making the cuffs on my smock. Ironic because the first two iterations didn’t go well at all.

I started with the original deep cuff …

which turned out to be too bulky along the edge of the smocking and too thin along the folded end. So I tried making a smaller cuff …

but that turned out so lumpy that I didn’t even bother to take a final picture. In the end, I simply hemmed the existing edge with no cuff at all …

which looks fine, but now the sleeves are a good two inches shorter than they otherwise would have been … and I hate short sleeves! (I know, I know … that last picture looks like the perfect length, but I’m holding the sleeve off my shoulder … so, no … it’s too short).

While pondering what to do about the too-short sleeves, I decided to start a completely new project with a remnant of cotton ikat from FabScrap …

Wanting to use every bit, I decided to try a zero-waste pattern. So I did some reading …

and decided not to risk my first try on the “good stuff,” choosing instead to practice on some plain white cotton cloth that I had on hand. Then I upped the ante by trying to fashion a reversible top. I hemmed all the rectangular pattern pieces with a combination running/back stitch (the infamous Texas Two-Step) and am in the process of whipping everything together …

all done with Deb Lacativa’s wicked-good threads to keep things interesting.

And while so doing, my mind came up with the perfect solution to my smock problem: I’ll cut the sleeves in two, hem the edges, and insert bands of patchwork. Ha! That should do the trick.

Now if I can just figure out how to finish the smock plackets. Hmmmm …