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:
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| 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.
