aprons from the past

We just spent a week back home in Minnesota.
I took a break from apron making.
While there my mom pulled out these two sweet aprons made by my Great Grandmother!
They are hand stitched with the cross stitching! I cant imagine the time that went into that. Although my Great Grandmother was pretty crafty so maybe it didn't take her long at all.
I didn't know that apron making ran in the family.

I will be back to creating next week. I have a few request to catch up on.

*seventeen 09.16.11

Today I sewed to the sounds of a day at Nomads Land.
The sound of hammering and sawing as Nigel and Aaron build a wood shed.
The sound of plans being made for the cob house.
The sound of children running around having fun outside.
The sound of the thousand of crickets and other crawly things that Alabama has to offer.
The sound of an occasional train going by in the distance.

It is the sound of life on the land.
It is the sound of dreams being made.
It is the sound of life moving forward.

I love being a part of things out here.

Little Hope is my model again today.
I have her posing in front of the Birdsong bus in honor of the birds on the apron.

Once again tulle is making an appearance in the kitchen!

*sixteen 09.15.11

It is a Counting Crows kind of day.
Overcast.
A bit chilly.
I popped in Recovering the Satellites first.
Followed by August and Everything After.
It put me in a reflective mood.

I started to think about how much of the work of sewing the apron is not actually the sewing.
It is the picking out of the fabric.
The cutting out of the pieces.
The ironing and ironing and ironing of the hems.
Just about every edge gets ironed.
Twice.
It's the pinning.
The placing of pockets.
So much happens before I even take out my machine each day.

The more effort and time I put into the pre sewing work the easier the actual sewing is.

The apron today is made from an old dress. Well I think it was an old dress.
It looks handmade. I could never quite figure out how to wear it.
I always ment to revamp it into something new.
This is the second apron I have made from the fabric.
It is a gourgeous fabric. Linen I believe.
Thanks to the beautiful Anna for modeling todays apron.

*fifteen 09.14.11

Todays apron took me all day to make.
I am not sure how it happened.
I ate breakfast.
I had a play date with my two year old friend Niah.
Somehow I imagined myself sewing the apron while she drew happily in the corner.
Any parents of two years olds laughing at that?
We had a tea party, drew some pictures, put on some "makeup", played with some beads.
I got a little bit of sewing done.
Then it was lunch time.
I ate.
Made Nigel lunch.
He ate.
I cleaned up.
Did a little more sewing.
Talked to my sister.
Did some sewing.
Chatted with Anna.
Did some sewing.
Talked to my Mom.
Did some sewing.
Chatted with Shallyn.
Did some sewing.
Talked to Lana.
Did some sewing.
I may know where my day went.
4 o'clock
The apron is done.
Time to make wild rice salad and off to a pot luck on the land.



The sequel is over.
There is a very happy mother and child out there today in matching aprons.

*fourteen 09.13.11

Keith Green joined me for todays apron adventure.
I feel like listening to Keith Green just makes me a better person.
Maybe it might help me make a better apron?

Todays apron was made for sweet little Niah.
Her mom Shallyn gave me the fabric to make them both a matching set.
Can you sense a sequel coming?
I have had the fabric for a couple of weeks waiting to be inspired.

Making an apron specifically for someone is more pressure for me than just making one and maybe someone think its great.
Will they like it?
Should I add more pockets?
Maybe a bit of ribbon?
Or is ribbon too much?
And just what does a lunch lady apron look like anyways?!

Well today I decided to stuff my perfectionism and people pleasing issues down in a little hole and start on these aprons.

Curtains turned into aprons.

The hills are alive with the sound of music.

thirteen 09.12.11

This apron was made with a little Hope.
Literally.
A little girl named Hope.

She designed some aprons with pens and markers for future apron days.
She also made an apron and pillow for her doll.
All in the time it took me to make one apron!

She agreed to model the apron for me.
In the hopes that someday we will both be famous.

The apron is a revamped skirt.
The little tie is fun.
I accented with pink flowers.

Hope is almost 7 so it fits a kid around that age.

Sometimes being around a child reminds me of how simple life can be.
And fun.

*twelve 09.09.11

One apron a day dosent quite define this apron.
It took me two days.
Yes two days.
I got busy on friday and didnt get it finished.
Saturday was busy too.
I was working on it at night and about to give up when my husband encouraged me to keep going.
If I finished it then I wouldnt have it hanging over my head on Sunday.
So I plodded along and Ta Da!
Sometimes my procrastinating self just needs a little push.

The Elephants come from Nigels mum. I love them.

I picked up the idea for the design of this one from a pattren catalog I was flipping through a few days ago.
The pockets turned out great.

I like the contrast with the dots.

My green polka dots are almost gone, I will have to find a new favorite to accent with!

*eleven 09.08.11

Lime green.
I turned on the Reservoir Dogs sound track to find inspiration for this apron.
Why?
The Coconut song. "Put the lime in the coconut and drink them both up."
Okay strange, I know.
I may be admitting too much on this blog.

The apron today comes from a pillow case.
I was almost done sewing and I noticed that my hem was quite uneven.
Crooked.
Slanty.
A definite slope to the whole thing.

I dont like unpicking.
Not one bit.

What to do?

I added some ribbon and made it look like it was sloping on purpose!
It was a bit more work, but faster than my unpicking.
I like the finished effect.
Very asymmetrical. 

*ten 09.07.11

I pulled lots of fabric out of the cupboard today looking for inspriation.
Some days are harder than others.
I picked up this one.
Looked at that one.
And then the hot pink tulle started speaking to me.
It wanted to be made into an apron.
It really did!

So I turned on some Rachel Kurtz  and got to work.
I dont know how Rachel would feel being on a post with pink tulle but I think she might think it was fun.
I love her music.
I love the truth and passion in it.
I play it loud and sing along to my hearts content.

Some people may say tulle doesn't belong in the kitchen.
But I would argue for the tulle.
What a better thing to wear when you come home from a long day of work and don't feel like cooking!
Tulle makes everything better.
You can just prance around like a little princess.
Or not.

*nine 09.06.11

I may have said cute about one hundred times while making this!
CUTE!

Niah was the cutest little model.
The only problem was getting the apron back after!

I got the fabric from a thrift shop.
It was a pillow case.
It looked like it was handmade.
I bet the person making it never thought it would be taken apart and made into an apron!

The faces are a little strange.
But I think the fabric is very, ummm, cute!

I added a cute little flower ribbon to the bottom.

And some lace to the top, as well as lace ties.
Just for some more cuteness.

Did  I said cute?

*eight 09.05.11

Last night nigel and I were in the middle of dinner and the power went out!
No blogging for me.
We are pretty set up in our bus to survive without power.
We have candles.
12 volt lights.
The fridge and stove on gas.
So all went on as normal, except the blogging.

This morning as were we eating breakfast on went the lights! Yeah! I love when the power comes back on after it has been out. We never think to turn off the lights or stereo or anything else. So when the power comes back on it all turns on at once! Like a surprise party.

The apron.
Blue and white with red accents? You cant go wrong there.
Two adorable pockets.
And a bit of flounce.

Oh and I have a real live model now!
Thanks Shallyn.
The trees are going to miss getting all dressed up.

*seven 09.02.11

Last apron of the week!
Thats right I am taking the whole weekend off, not just sundays.
I have decided I am not an apron machine!

The pins I have been using to sew with are from the dollar shop. I have nothing against the dollar shop, but these pins are not good. Half are dull and wont even go thru the fabric.

I have in my pin cusion one long yellow pin. I think it came from my sisters place. It is a beautiful pin. I use it every chance I get.

Today we were in the craft store and my husband comes over to me with a box of new pins. He tells me that I should get em.
I am in pin heaven.

I used the green dots again today. I love them! This apron also features a one of a kind carrot pocket. I found this at a thrift store I used to work at. I think it goes great with the dots and the lace!

I started making labels for the aprons today, they have the apron number, the date, and say One Apron A Day.

*six 09.01.11

Color is about all there is to say about todays apron.
Lots and lots of color.

This fabric comes from my Mum in law. She is Mum and not Mom cause she is from New Zealand. My wonderful Mum in law has a mighty fine fabric collection that she lets me pick through when we are there. It is like a treasure hunt!

I was telling Nigel yesterday how I am beginning to dread the end of an apron project. I get all finished with the main part of the apron and then I have to cut out and stitch the ties. By that time I am ready to be done and not wanting to do something fiddly.

"Maybe you should do the ties first,"He says.

Huh, that's an idea.

So I did and it was great! I didnt mind working on them at all at the beginning of the project!

I tried on the apron today and it just seemed like something was missing. I know, how is it possible with all that color. But yes. It needed something. I tried ribbon and lace and a pocket, but nothing was quite right.

As I was tying it on I folded it a bit so the ties would tie around my waist.

That little tuck was just the thing. It looked finished all of the sudden. So I sewed the tuck up and called it a day.

Sometimes the little things make all the difference.

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