all about aprons

One of my goals this year was to expand my sewing skill-set beyond basic quilting.  Eventually, I'd love to be able to sew a simple skirt.  So I figured that aprons would be a good way to work my way up to skirts.

 Another skill I want to improve is my ability to follow a sewing pattern.  When I make quilts, I don't use patterns.  (Truly, I don't  see the point.  Half the fun is designing your own quilt, right? )

So I've been having a lot of fun looking through sewing books and my ever-growing collection of vintage patterns.  One of my favorite sewing books is this one:

(Disclaimer: I'm not being paid to promote this book; I just really like it.)  This book is a rather unique sewing book in that it contains lots of interesting historical info plus patterns.  Good stuff.  I chose the Flapper Apron and the end result looks like this:

The polka dot fabric is one I've had in my collection for quite a while.  It's from Hobby Lobby, and I purchased it a few years ago, before I even started sewing.  The pockets are made from an adorable crown print that I've used very sparingly and I had just enough left to make the pockets.

After the flapper apron, I went back to my old habit of making it up as I go along, and sewed some half-aprons using some fun fabrics:

The red dots print is from Riley Blake design and the pink print is from Lotta Jansdotter.  I've been holding on to both of these for quite a while, because that's what fabric hoarders do.  We buy fabric to cut up and then we just can't bring ourselves to cut it up.  Perfectly normal, right?  I think aprons are a perfect way to showcase those favorite fabrics.

Last week, I decided to challenge myself with a vintage pattern:

Butterick pattern #4166, 1966

Obviously, the pattern says "easy" but for me, this would be a challenge because it involved sewing darts, which I had never attempted before.  I looked up a bit more information in my copy of Sewing Made Easy, which gave a bit more information than the sewing pattern.  Vintage patterns assume you know how to sew! Then I dove in, cut fabric, stitched seams and the intimidating darts, and I'm pretty happy about the result.  It's not perfect, but totally wearable.

And wear it, I will.  I love this happy fabric, a JoAnn's clearance bin find.  As you can see, I didn't bother to make the belt.  I will also confess to cheating just a bit: instead of a button, I used velcro.  I haven't quite mastered buttons yet.

Eventually, I'll be listing some aprons on my etsy shop as part of a new product collection.  They are so much fun to make and personally, I think putting on a pretty apron does make housework a bit more fun.  As someone who definitely does not enjoy housework, I need all the motivation I can get.  Buying fabric and thinking about my next sewing project is good motivation.