fifty! 06.29.12

Apron number 50!
6 sewing machines.
2 states.
2 countries.
And 50 aprons.
Halfway to my 100 goal.
I wonder where number 100 will be created?

Well in honor of apron 50.
Okay i didn't actually know this was number 50 until I was done and opened my blog to see where I left off.
So the fabric really isnt in honor of 50.
But it is all very fun.
It all comes from my mum in laws fabric collection.
The pocket is made from a piece of beautiul vintage curtin.
 I love the tree.

The design is new.
It is a poofy one.
What I mean by poofy is that I folded the polka dots in half and sewed it up around the edges, so the bottom hem is not a hem at all.
But a fold.
Which makes the apron nice a full.

We left Luna, the cat, alone for three days last week.
Yes, we had someone feeding her.
Ever since we got home she follows me everywhere!
As you can see she was helping me photograph the apron.
I  thought we were getting a cat but she seems more like a dog always on my heels!

fortythree 12.19.11

 We arrived safe and sound in The Land of the Long White Cloud.
The first week here was spent getting the big green bus all swept out and cleaned up and fixed up to be livable and road worthy once again.

I turned our "office" down the back into a sewing room.
My beautiful friend Sharon lent me her sewing machine.

Our Office doesn't get used too much so it is the perfect spot.
There was one cold and damp New Zealand winter  when we put carpet on the floor and blankets on the walls.
We hooked up a heater and kept warm in the little "cave" while watching movies.
There was a big hole in the front part of the bus where the engine was getting replaced.
But that is another story....

The new sewing space still has a few kinks. There is not room in there to cut and iron so yesterday I set up a table outside and kept hopping back and forth.

I felt like a rabbit.


The apron turned out nice in spite of all the hopping around.
Some great white and red cotton.
Little lines of roosters on it.
A pocket made out of linen.
Two gorgeous pheasants.

I may be getting a bit carried away with the length of the ties these days.

These ones can wrap around the front and then back around to the back and tie there!

*fortytwo 12.06.11

Its our last day in Alabama.
We are off to New Zealand tomorrow.
It has been a loverly week here.

I have enjoyed seeing our bus again and sewing with my machine!

I do plan on making aprons in NZ.
Hopefully I will find a machine to have on the bus.

This was one of those aprons that kinda of made itself.
I wasnt sure what it was going to look like when I started.

I wanted to use the striped linen dress.
But there wasnt quite enough fabric.
So I added a panel of the orange dots in the middle.

I made the pockets.
But when I put them in place they looked a bit funny with the panel.
So I put the small pocket on the big pocket.
Why not?


I sewed the ties on.
But they were a bit to far off the shoulder.
So I added couple little tucks.
Perfect.

Working with what is in front of me.
Being flexible.
Going with the flow.

*thirtyseven 11.7.11

I've been thinking.
I spend the majority of the year living in a bus.
We are in a house maybe two months.

I like staying in a house.
I like having hot water to do the dishes without having to heat it up on the stove.
I like having a big sink that dishes actually fit in.
I like having a high pressure shower.

After a while of being in a house I start to miss the outdoors.
Living in a bus is kinda of like living outside.
If it is cold outside it is cold in the bus.

Being in a house in Minnesota in the winter is not like being outside.
That is a good thing.
But I still miss knowing what the temperature is outside when I wake up.

I also feel like I forget to look at the moon when I live in a house.
When we are on the road or out in the woods I know what stage the moon is in.
I follow its coming in and going out.

This apron just came together from different things I had in my fabric collection.
A piece of eyelet fabric.
An old table runner.
Some beautiful lace for the ties.
Walla!
An apron that scream vintage.
Thanks model Wendy.

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*thirtyone 10.26.11

I crossed a new line today.
I am not sure what the line is called.

If you are in my immediate family you may want to stop reading.

First of all I would like to say this.
I was brought up in a very clean home.
My room was a mess as a teenager, but the rest of the house was clean.
I dont know how my mom did it with 7 kids in the house, but she did.
Saturday mornings were floor scrubbing time.

My husband and I currently have a "different" sort of lifestyle.
We live in a bus.
We travel around.
We are very often outdoors.
We work odd jobs and sell crafts to make ends meet.

I am learning that there are some things to get used to in this lifestyle that hadn't occurred to me.

Things like when you park your bus in Alabama in the summer it is very very normal to have bugs inside your home. If there were not bugs, something may be wrong!

And things like when you leave your bus in a field for months on end a mouse WILL find its way in. Anything food related should be stored in glass or metal. Mice CAN chew through plasitic. Very messy when it is a bottle of veggie oil and a mouse is so short it chews through the bottom of the full bottle.

And things like today.
The new line crossed.

I went to make some fried rice for lunch.
I took the rice out and noticed there were a few tiny little bugs crawling around in it.
In the past this would go straight into the trash.
But today I really wanted that fried rice.
So I thought to myself.
It is said you should always wash your rice first, maybe this is why.
So I rinsed and I rinsed and I rinsed that rice.
Then I cooked it up and I ate it.

Oh the apron.
A full size.
Made from a curtian.
Does anyone hear The Sound of Music?

thirty 10.25.11

I thought I would pose for the apron thirty photo.
Thirty aprons.
I think I may try to make it to 100!

Today was a crazy day on the bus.
I woke up and started sewing.
I still had my jammies on!
This is not the norm, no matter what my mother may say.

It was just one of those days.
It also happened to be one of those days where we had lots of visitors to the bus!
The land has been pretty full of people. We had the pilgrimage, and a work week, and our friend Chuck from bread of life came out to share with us last night.

So people were stopping by the bus to say Hello or goodbye, depending in their direction.
Really not a day for me to be in my jammies!

I switched into my clothes in between visitors and made a crazy apron to go with the crazy day.

Stripes, polka dots, and flowers! The stripes come from a linen dress.
I left the button holes from the dress showing on one side of the apron.
A fun little touch.
The flowers are an amazing find I got at a thrift shop a few weeks ago.
They are linen as well.
I think it is meant to be a napkin.

It makes a perfect big double pocket.
My dear friend Lana tells me she likes the big pockets. Then she can wipe her dirty hands inside the pockets and the apron stays looking clean!

*twentynine 10.24.2010

Making aprons for me usually involves some sort of cooking as well.
There is always something to cook for around here.
So in between hems and gathers I am cooking.
It is very convenient to live in a bus for this cooking and sewing dance.
All I have to do is turn around and I am in the kitchen.

Today we are having some people around for a bon fire.
Desserts is on the menu.

I have been craving these bars my mom used to make.
Magic Cookie Bars.
Also know as 7 layer bars.
They are SO yum!
You can click on the link for the recipe.
They turned out great even though I baked them for a bit too long.
The hazard of sewing and baking
I always forget things in the oven!

The apron for today comes from a skirt.
I gave it a round pocket.
And a button.
Love.
I think the waistline material comes from my sister. I believe it was a tablecloth at one time.

*twentyseven 10.20.11

Todays apron is for...
well...
ME!

There have been two stray dogs on the land this week.
One of them chewed up my apron that was hanging on the clothesline!
And I mean chewed up!
(See bottom photo for evidence.)

This apron was a practical apron.
It hangs on the clothes line with its pocket full of clothespins.
Then when you go to hang our clothes out you tie the apron around your waist.
No running back and forth for the pegs.
Then you wear it when you take your nice air dried clothes off the line.
No more trying to see how many pegs you can fit in your hands before you dash to the clothespin bucket.
Just slip them right into the pocket.

Needless to say I had to make a replacement for the dog chewed clothespin apron!

I made this apron using part of an old linen dress and a cute little bag I had lying around.

twentyfive 10.18.11

Work party happening on the land today!
We were expecting the group to come late tonight but part of them showed up early!
Crazy fun.
I ran around like a chicken with its head cut off for a bit.
And then I went and hid in my bus and made my apron of the day.

I wanted to do something bright and fun today.
I wanted to try out a round pocket.

This is a skirt turned apron.
The pocket turned out great.
I am sensing more round pockets in my future.

I learned a new trick with pockets that is opening up a whole new world to me.

You cut two squares or in this case circles.
Sew them together with the right sides in.
Leaving a hole to flip them inside out.
You flip them.
Iron them.
And bobs your uncle.(That's kiwi slang, for what I am not sure, but I guess it means the pockets are easy peasy.)

This trick has revolutionized pocket making for me.
Yeah for pockets!