More Aprons!

Remember the apron I learned how to make?  I made these aprons for my friends shortly after learning how to do them.  It’s my ‘impressive’ sewing talent these days.

For Christmas I decided that all the women in my family needed to have an apron.   I spent many nights up past midnight working up to the last minute getting 7 aprons done by Christmas for my family.  It took an entire season of Project Runway (for inspiration) streaming through Hulu, a Rachel Ray talk show, and and episode of Modern Family (both watched while I was ironing  50+ strips of fabric). 

I was so happy at how they turned out. Each of the colors matched their personalities or kitchen or was their favorite color.   They all seemed to like them very much.  We may even plan a cooking day this spring or summer to get all the ladies together and put our aprons to good use. 

I  learned a lot after finishing 7 aprons. 

1. Don’t put off till later what you can do in small batches now!  It really did take an entire season of Project Runway to finish these.  I bet I could have done one a night on 7 different nights if I had started earlier than the week before Christmas.  As it was, I made them all in about 3 days.

2. Use the top of the pant leg as the top of the apron.  The thigh is wider on most pants than the ankle.  I think some of them ended up too skinny on the top.

3.  Use bigger sized jeans than what you think the apron wearer wears.  It’s nicer to have a bigger apron covering your clothes, so I’ll go with bigger sizes next time.  Because all of my nieces are super skinny, it worked out okay this time.

4.  Use a smaller neck strap than I think I should use.  Every single one of them had to tie a knot in the back of their neck strap to make the apron fit right. 

5. I still don’t know how to make corners neat.  I’m getting better, but I still don’t know how to polish everything up yet.

If you’re new to sewing and want to try something really fun, start out with this project.  It’s so fun and practical.  I use my apron all the time. 

Banana Clips, Friends, and Aprons

Remember these?

 

I wore them all the time in the 80’s!  I even had the big, permed hair to go with it.  They rocked!

Evidently, they still exist.  I bought some at Meijer the other day, thinking I would bring back the beautiful, ‘Mohawk-esque’ hairstyle. 

Evidently, I don’t have big enough hair for it anymore.  It slides right out of my hair every time I try to wear it.  So, alas, I will not be the one to bring back the banana clip anytime soon. 

But that doesn’t stop me from having some fun with them!

Last night was a Girls Night Out for me and my two high school friends.  Only, this time, we had a girls-night-out-at-home-with-the-husbands.  I hosted a cookout that ended up as a cook-in, since the rain kept us inside.  When my friends got here, I forced them to wear banana clips.  I’m such a great hostess! 

Aren’t they beautiful!? We had a good laugh over these, and wore them most of the night.

Because I’m not always mean to my guests, I gave them each a gift to make up for the forced banana clip wearing. 

I made them each an apron with fabric that fits their personalities and kitchens!  They loved them.

You can tell that I made mine from REALLY old, worn out jeans, and theirs from jeans from my mother that were so much nicer looking. 

Every few months, Heather, Beth and I get together to catch up on our lives and eat yummy food (mostly Chipotle).  This time it was nice that our husbands could join us.  It’s been 15 years since we graduated from high school, and we’re all three in different stages of our lives (one has two married daughters, I’ve just started my family, and one is still enjoying the single life).  When we get together, even without the banana clips, it’s like we’re transported back in time to the hallways of our school, sharing lockers and going to football games. 

I love my girlfriends!!!

My First Project

I’ve been absent from the blogosphere.  Sorry ‘bout that.  No excuses.  I’m just stating the obvious.

While I was gone, I attempted my first ‘real’ sewing project.  I say “real” because, in my opinion, cloth napkins should be considered practice and not a real project.

I found this project over at A Girl and a Glue Gun.  I’m not sure how I found it, but it looked like it was easy enough for a beginner to try, and I’ve been looking for an easy apron pattern.  Thanks to my friend Beth, I now have an actual pattern for 6 different styles of aprons.  I’ve not attempted those yet.  Baby steps to sewing projects!

Here is my first real project…..

I had some old jeans that I can’t wear anymore.  We won’t discuss WHY I can’t wear them!!  And I picked out some cute fabric from the store.

Cut off a pant leg, NOT like this, and then cut it up the middle so you can open it up.

Cut a crescent-like shape out of the pants (not sure which end works best here). 

 

Now you have something that looks like it could become an apron very easily!

Next, pin the strips of fabric along all the edges, using SAFETY PINS, since you may not own any straight pins. 

    

Spend 2-3 hours sewing, removing stitches, sewing, untangling the bobbin, sewing, removing stitches, and sewing until you the strips of fabric don’t fall off the denim. I watched some Hulu TV while I sewed into the night.

This is what my final product looks like from afar. 

Not bad….

Let’s take a closer look, shall we?

This is what I’m most proud of.  The square 'reinforcements’.  My sewing savvy friend Beth told me about this, and I think it looks great.

At first glance, that pocket looks good.  But at closer inspection, you see that I sewed so far inside the pocket, that the edges all stick up.  I didn’t know if my machine would sew through the edge of the pocket or not.  I didn’t want to mess with the ‘oops, I broke the needle’ scenario at midnight last night.

Now for my edges and corners.  HUH???  How do you finish these things???  This is the part I have to learn about yet.  I’m not sure how to make my edges and corners look finished. 

This was my first one.  Oh, it’s so bad!

I would say, overall this project was fun, and I like the end result.  I have a lot of learning to do, but at least now I know what questions to ask.  I’ll be having sewing parties* at my place this summer – bring your machine and let’s make something!!

    

*ok, so I’m not REALLY scheduling any sewing parties, but if you’re close by and like to help struggling beginners learn how to sew, come on over! I’ll provide the entertainment (my 1 year old) and you provide the knowledge.