Floral Vintage Apron

This apron is my entry for Tie One On's Floral Fun theme aprons. I used the Comfortable Apron pattern from the book Vintage Notions (see my review of the book here and photo of pattern below). I love wearing aprons and made a couple of aprons using patterns by Mary Brooks Picken before.

The apron took about two and a half hours to make from start to finish. The instructions are the originals published in 1926 and there are not many illustrations. The instructions are written in paragraph form rather than step by step so you have to read rather carefully. I highly recommend looking at the notes in the back of the book as well.

The fabric is from a roll of vintage cotton that I inherited from my grandmother (used as a lining in this project). The lace trim is from a bulk bundle that I purchased at Michael Levine downtown.
One thing I really enjoy about the vintage patterns is the instructions on making the pattern. You simply tear a length of fabric, draw lines between certain points and cut. It's so simple. I love it. Above is the fabric cut away to form the bib and skirt of the apron.

The hardest part for me to figure out was how to attach the side belt to the bib. Here are some notes on how I did it.

Hem the sides of the bib and the skirt. Baste top edge of skirt (from "e to d") and lightly gather. Pin folded strap over gathered top edge of skirt as above. Fold edge of bib on top of strap, making a pleat and covering the end of the strap. See above for right side photo. Below is the wrong side.

Next, I top stitched the strap in place. The instructions say to use a blanket stitch to finish but in the interest of time, I skipped it.

The straps were not long enough to tie so I adhered to the instructions and made a buttonhole as a closure. In fact, I made three buttonholes so that I could tighten or loosen the apron as needed (see above). 

 

It's a pretty apron in the end but the hip gathers are not all that flattering. It was fun to make and it would be fun to try the blanket stitch finish sometime.

Country Apron

This week, I whipped up this full apron for a friend's birthday. I based it on a one-yard apron pattern from an old book, just like these. There are four main pieces: the yoke, the front and two side pieces.

The pattern called for using bias binding to finish the edges and pockets on the sides. I chose to make mine reversible, skip the binding and place one pocket on the center front. I also adapted the yoke piece to a shape more to my liking and used tie ends instead of the binding.
The fabric is a little fussier than I usually choose but isn't it pretty? Just irresistible. The kind of thing one should wear while canning.

Tie One On Polka Dot Apron

The Tie One On apron polka-dot theme gallery is now up. I contributed for the first time with this (possibly familiar) number.

Kind of a slacker post today but the photos are new. I'm getting over a cold so I was less productive over the weekend. Before long, I'll take some photos for my entry for the Sewing Pattern Review Designer Knock-Off contest. My project is all done and road tested.

Vintage Pillowcase Challenge

I made this apron from a vintage pillowcase for the contest put on by the Handmade Parade blog. It's a full apron with pockets around the bottom and one in the center front. The yellow rick-rack was the original trim on the pillowcase and now trims the pockets. The pink bias tape was added to finish the raw edges.
The above schematic is a not-to-scale very rough sketch of how I used the fabric. I made some adjustments after I started cutting to get proportions that looked appealing. The top of the apron and the patch pocket attached to it are both faced. I used up the scraps for the pocket. I used the selvedge edge of the fabric at the waistline and applied bias tape around the sides and bottom. One of the unplanned proportion adjustments I made was to apply the top of the apron on top of the skirt as seen in the sketch below.
I can't say how much I love aprons. I've taken to wearing them while cooking and cleaning, even if I'm not wearing clothes that require protection. I feel like with the apron on I can really get to work. The apron is a uniform. I'm not ready until I have it on.

I didn't always feel quite so strongly about aprons. I used to only wear them while baking or cooking for an extended period of time. Wearing one while cleaning started when I was living in my last apartment. The sink was kind of low and I found myself getting wet while washing dishes (I was the only dishwasher there, no fancy machines to do the dirty work). The habit has stuck and I sometimes find myself happily wearing an apron all day long. A bonus is that when you're done cooking and have commenced eating, the apron acts like a giant bib although hopefully more flattering and grown-up.

tagged

I was tagged by The Stitching Surgeon today. She said she likes my blog and I'm totally flattered so I'm going to play along even though I was tagged before. I'll pass on tagging others though.

Seven Random Things This Week

1. This weekend I made pancakes. Then stacked them up and photographed them. I love pancakes.

2. On Sunday night I went to the movie Atonement and missed the latest episode of Masterpiece (formerly known as Masterpiece Theater) on PBS. I'm very excited that Masterpiece is doing a series of Jane Austen movies. I love Jane Austen. Last Sunday was Northanger Abbey and it's not one of my favorites so I didn't mind missing it. Atonement was really good. On a side note, I think the re-branding of Masterpiece kind of weird. This page in particular is laughable. Also I love the Mystery series. Mysteries are really much better with a British accent. Miss Marple is my favorite. I make a point of knitting while watching her.

3. I finished an apron last night for the Vintage Pillowcase Contest at the Handmade Parade blog. (Post coming as soon as I'm home during sunny daylight to take photos.)

4. Made the apron while watching Project Runway on YouTube. The only reality show I would consider participating in.

5. Tonight, came home, put on aforementioned apron to do dishes and bake bread in bread machine I received for Christmas.

6. Today I wore this dress that I finally completed (this deserves a post too). For driving to work I wore flats and carried boots with me to put on when I arrived. I arrived at work, pulled in to the garage and the shuttle to the main building was waiting for me. Hurrying as best I could, I slipped off the flats and pulled on the boots, not bothering to change from my sunglasses to regular glasses. So, mostly blind and going quickly, I put my boots on the wrong feet! I have narrow feet so it was only mildly uncomfortable. I didn't bother to mention it to anyone and waited until I returned to my cubicle to fix it. Just a day in the life...

7. I want to say how much I appreciate all the lovely comments I've been getting lately. Thank you so much for reading my little blog! It means a lot to me and never fails to make me smile.

One Yard Aprons

Last week I got on an apron making kick and made these two aprons from patterns I had copied from an old book by Mary Brooks Picken. I do love to wear an apron while cooking or cleaning.
Each required one yard or less of fabric plus bias binding. I painstakingly sewed the bias binding on by hand. Oh it took forever. I did it by hand to avoid the folding and pressing and potential finger burning. To make future projects faster, I bought a bias tape maker on sale at Jo-Anns.

This second apron is cut on the bias and rather large. If I make it again, I'll make the neck a little higher and sides smaller. I do love the vintage style of both aprons. The shirt peeking out from under the aprons is a new refashion. I slimmed down the cut, shortened the sleeves, reattached the cuffs and added elastic to the hem of the sleeves.

Clothespin Apron

This apron is made from vintage fabric, bias tape and pattern. According to the pattern, it's a clothespin apron, basically a giant kangaroo style pocket. I inherited the fabric from my grandma. It's 36 inches wide and I still have a few yards left. The apron only required one yard of fabric. I had to make a seam at the bottom of the apron because my fabric is not double-sided. I also added a pleat at the center to get the right width-height proportions.

Isn't it cute? I might be getting on an apron making kick.

Easter Apron

I made this apron for Elise's birthday on Easter. I used four different fabrics, three prints and one solid. Too much? I think not. The pocket has a small ruffle at the top.

I pretty much made up the pattern, just gathered rectangles and a waistband/tie.

Vintage crochet

My great-aunt gave me some vintage crochet pieces recently including this little apron (above) and the doilies shown below. They are all beautifully made with tiny intricate stitches. Maybe some day I will attempt to crochet something so delicate and lovely.