Hanna's last apron

This is the last apron for the character Hanna.  She still needs two dresses made for her.  This apron was sort of a pain to make I think I have not had enough good sleep lately becasue of all the sewing.  I tore out at least 10 different seams at least 3 to 5 times each.  It was truly a simple pattern I just could not think straight while sewing.  Once again I used a sheet I found thrift shopping to make the apron.

 

The red lines are upholstery cording.  I like the two tie closure for the back it is a little different than most aprons.  The original pattern did not have cording or anything in the seams but it was too plain for me.  So I added the cord but still think it has a simpleness to it that I like.

Amy's blue apron...and petticoat

This does not look like much by itself but with the blue dress that has a lot of details I thought it would be over the top to add a lot of detail to this apron.

This is supposed to be Amy's Art apron to keep her other clothes clean.  So not really supposed to be a fashion plate item.  It is blue gingham with blue rick rack trim on pockets and three different laces one edging all over the place.  An insertion on the pockets that has rick rack woven through it.  The on the hem is  a longer nicer lace. c
Sorry I had a hard time photographing this apron.

Also I promised to show the petticoat hem of Amy's blue dress.  Blue lace that I wove double sided purple satin ribbon through and antique rick rack trim that is blue and white.

3 aprons for Hanna

A lot of the characters in this play wear aprons. I  think I will be making over nine aprons for the play some will be pinafore like.  The three in this post are for Hanna the servant and family friend.  She is supposed to have four aprons but I have not made the last one yet.  These aprons I am purposely re-purposing old items as the March family and Hanna are not supposed to have money for new things.  So these are made out of old faded bed sheets a few have little holes in them and so on.

The gray apron is the first one the character Hanna will wear.  It is meant to be reminiscent of the military stripes the men wear.   It is made from a gray sheet that had zero embellishments on it.  The ribbon i used at the waist and hem was a piece of gross grain two toned ribbon I saved from a gift someone gave me.  There is velvet ribbon on the pockets same ribbon used for Jo's red dress from Act 1.  The black cord you see is southache braid again.  The buttons on the collar are antique jet buttons and true to period.  The flowers you see are made out of double sided satin ribbon with 7 bead centers.

I am giving each apron at least 1 pocket some two so that the actors have places to put props they will use on stage like unlit candles and handkerchiefs and things of that sort.
  Usually in a play you do not put your backside to the audience,.  But just in case that happens I wanted the back to be just as interesting as the front on the aprons sometimes more so.

The next apron my children have named the valentine apron.  I guess with that day so close it is on their minds.  To me it is just sickly sweet.  The sheet I made this from already had white embroidery on it.  So I used that on the pockets and hem.  Then I added machine embroidery to the straps and ties to add just a little more I also added it to the hem to pull the top and bottom together more.

The waistband is stiffened with some pellon that I found a large bolt of a few years back while thrift shopping the bolt has over 100yards on it not bad for 5 bucks I don't even think I have used 25 yards of it yet.
The eyelet lace around the straps is the same i used on a pair of pantalets that I have already shown.  The little eyelet lace came from a friend the same one that gave me all the fringe I am am using but it was a different day that she gave me this lace.  I ended up using all I had left except 6 inches worth.  I think this apron may be a little long if it is I will add a growth pleat to the dress to take up a few inches in length.




 The Salmon colored one is made from an old table cloth I found yesterday thrift shopping for 2 dollars.  I know it sound strange but I like that it was faded and old and yes hand made ( yes I cut it up).  I think it was originally from the 1940's ish.  It had old stains all over it from where food had been spilled over the years of use.  I washed them up I don't mind stains in fact I prefer them for this but I do not want dirt and other such stuff on them  so the sheets and table cloth got cleaned  and then  set to work on cutting them all apart.

The bib for the salmon colored apron was left over from a sample I had to make about a year back for a school concert choir.  We had run out of choir rob collars so I had to draft a pattern and this was the mock up.  The actual collars are red and white.  When I made this collar i thought some day in the future I will use it for an apron bib.  Well that someday was last night.  I added machine embroidery to the color to add some color to it to make it match a little better to the bottom part.  The tie for this is more gross grain ribbon this time cream also saved from a gift I got.  Nothing like costuming an entire play on a shoestring.

Apron 10: christmas full apron

This is another one of those thrift aprons. My kids had me buy this one. I wasn't going to get it as it didn't really like it. It was made from a fabric panel and it is real thin fabric so I didn't think it was much use as an apron. The kids wined and I gave in for $0.50. Not a big deal in all. Now that I have it I am glad they had me buy it as I don't have any made from panels in my collection but this one. Of course it is hand made being made from a fabric panel and all. It has a large rounded front pocket. This apron was used right before this post to make caramels so it is a little dirty in this photo sorry.

Apron 9 : hand made

This apron is one I made right before I stopped being a florist the last time. I had an apron at work and I liked the pattern so I brought it home and copied the pattern before I wouldn't have the apron any more. You can see a few photos of the original apron in this post from my last week at work plus my old friends too. I like the original one better the colors and image are nicer. But this was never meant to be that apron just a quick knock out of the apron pattern for alter use. This version is made using vintage fabric and antique seam binding. I noticed that one of the bindings has come undone and needs to be fixed before it has major issues you can see it in the photo. It ties in the back and has a long neck strap that is just seam binding too and one large pocket. That is how the original was too.

Apron 8 : Floral work

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This is my old floral work apron. This apron saw lots of work as you can tell from the stains and some really late night hours. May not seem that special to most people to me it represents friends I use to see every day and now I don't see much at all. I wish them well.

Apron 7 : From Central America

This as a thrift store find too for $1.00. I have never been to El Salvador Central America. I like the image printed on this and that it goes all the way around the body. This apron is mainly used by my children as a craft apron so they don't get their clothes dirty. The only thing I wish was that this apron was embroidered instead of a silk screen print. Has ties on both sides so that is can be easily dropped over the head. This is more of a smock style. I like the detail of the seam binding to hold it together and to give it an extra added detail. This is not home made which is easy to tell as it looks to be made for the tourist trade.

Apron 6 : Half Apron for gathering

This is another thrift store find ($.50). I call it a gathering apron, because it has big pockets to place items in. If you run out of room in those pockets the bottom flips up and buttons to give you yet another larger pocket. It is to bad that the original maker didn't line this or make it double sided because when the pocket is buttoned up you see the backside or the fabric and another fabric would have been a cute detail instead.

Good for gathering fruit as long as the buttons are sewn on well with strong thread to hold the weight. This is definitely a hand made apron nothing about it reads store bought. To begin with it has rick rack as detailing and large green buttons. The tie can be worn in the front if you have a waist that is 26 inches if not they tie in the back.

It has the look of a vintage apron but it uses reproduction fabric and is not true old fabric.

Apron 5 : Rooster

I collect roosters so when thew girls and I saw this apron at the thrift store ($0.50) who could pass it up. It is made from terry towel material. We use it when washing the dishes as it is more absorbent than other aprons. I really love the graphic image on this mixed with the polka dots. It is one that was originally purchased in a store and not homemade. As you can see the ties are not really long enough for an adult toe wear in the front but the girls do. If you look close you can tell the bottom of the apron has some issues do to being used a lot by the kids.

Apron 4 : Linen and Flowers

Here is another apron found thrift ($2.00) this one is linen with flowers on it. It was definitely store bought first as it has a printed label written in another language on it. Looks like linen to me if someone could read the label it is 100% something either cotton or linen.

It has metal links in the back to help with tying the apron closed. On the other apron I liked the metal links still trying to figure out if I do on this one. Makes it stronger and all but they are awkward to tie into.

I like the color on this sort of soft and muted in hue weird for me as I typically like strong bold colors. I like that it has two pockets on it.

It has two pockets which is always nice. Why do so many aprons only have one pocket.

Apron 3 : Red and White Full Apron

I love the length of this apron. Hard to spill stuff on your self when this apron is tea-length. This is also a thrift apron for $2.00 looks to be handmade but not sure could be store bought. Has two ties around the waist and three pockets on the front. This is a thick linen apron.

Not sure what someone would put on the small pocket other than a pen or pencil. I like the belt buckle like closure for the shoulder strap makes it supper simple to adjust.

Apron 2 : Half Apron for Clothes pins

This is another thrift find ( $0.50) the place I like to go looking for aprons has then usually between 50 cents and 2 dollars. I believe it is a clothes pin apron as you can see from the photos the eyes are actually pocket openings, the entire apron is one large pocket. I do not know how new or old this one is but it looks to be vintage at least (over 20 years). But not sure on that if any one can tell me about when the fabric was printed that would help on dating it. I think this would be real cute to use as a Halloween apron in Halloween colors sort of reminds me of a jack-o'lantern. The pocket could be used to hold the candy either that you are giving away or that the children are collecting leaving their hands free, to hold flash light or parents hands. Sort of a a happy scary face all at the same time. The nose and mouth are zig zagged on appliques and the eyes ( pockets) have seam binding. the ties are long enough to wrap from the back of the body to tie in the front if your waist is less than 30 inches.

Apron 1: Battenberg Apron

This apron is new but thrifted. I found this apron about 1 week ago at a thrift store for $2.00. Not to bad considering it still had all its original tags on it. So it isn't hand made but still a very pretty hostess apron. I wanted to take a picture earlier in the day but it was snowing and such a gray that I was wishing the day would get better and and the light would improve but it never did so sorry the picture isn't better.

An Apron a Day

I put on an apron yesterday to do some cooking and I realized I have shown a few aprons I own but not all of them so starting Monday I am going to post an apron a day till I have shown you all of them. I will post these Monday - Friday only each week till all posted. Should be fun lots of these have been found thrifting, junking. I will only show aprons I have not posted before. If you want to see the aprons that have already been posted go here if you want their stories too go here. The montage at the top of this post is a few of the aprons I have shown in the past. They should look prettier this go round as I have a few dress forms now and don't have to put them on the floor to take photos.