Friday, November 12, 2010

Aprons




A few months ago my finger was almost too sore to quilt, so I took a break from it; however, I still wanted to be sewing on something. I had seen a few blog posts featuring aprons and thought I'd like to make one. Well, I didn't stop with one; they're so easy to sew and half aprons can be made from a really small piece of fabric. With scraps of rickrack, eyelet, or bias tape, they can be trimmed up into a cute, useful item. Now I'll have to be truthful, I hardly ever wear an apron anymore; I wear jeans most of the time and don't worry about getting something on them while I'm cooking. I suppose one reason women used to always wear aprons was to protect the fronts of their dresses so they could be worn more than once since laundry was done by hand and an apron wouldn't have been as difficult to wash as a dress.



I have read that aprons were the first pieces of clothing, referring to the aprons Adam and Eve made from fig leaves. They made a good place for a shy child to hide behind when company came, a good thing to wipe tears from that child's little face, a good thing to wave to the men in the field to let them know dinner was waiting, and when it was folded up at the corner, it made a good potholder.



These are pictures of some of my aprons:


This apron was made from a scrap with an embroidered pocket using a tea towel transfer.


Another simple half apron dressed up with chicken scratch embroidery; don't look on the back because I can't hide my knots very well.



These aprons were made by an online, free, printable pattern by Susan Branch. They take about one yard of fabric and two packages of double fold bias tape. They're easier to make than they look; just make sure the tape catches both pieces of the sections.


The little flirty apron at the top of this post was made by an old newspaper pattern I found. It took next to nothing to make it; just a piece of fabric the length you want the apron to be.



This is a blog I follow (www.oldcentennialfarmhouse.com/search/label/aprons); on which she features aprons in her collection now and then. And here (www.tipnut.com/ripply-apron-pattern-vintage-1951/ is a free pattern for a cute half apron. Maybe a homemade apron is in the making for Christmas?



Happy sewing,

Charlotte





1 comment:

  1. "Aprons" takes me back to when Mama would remind me to put an apron on when I helped in the kitchen. You have sewn up a nice collection of pretty aprons, but they seem to be begging to be worn! I always liked the aprons with a pocket best, so you can guess which one I would choose to wear. Nowadays, I like wearing my apron with a bib and big pockets, which my sister-in-law made out of denim.

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