A retro apron.



I've been doing a lot of sewing over the past week or two. This summer I'd spent so much time knitting and embroidering that sewing had been pushed to the side, except for a few wallets for the Etsy shop.

I'd forgotten how much I love it. :) This week I even sort-of enjoyed the aspects of sewing that I usually dread, like cutting out the fabric and hemming.

This apron is made from Sew Liberated's Lola pattern. I had a hard time finding a cute cotton that I liked and wanted to use. I finally decided on a retro red print with little pictures that look like they could have come from a 30s children's book. :) The only downside is that the red bias tape blends in with the fabric instead of standing out like it should.

I've made several aprons (to sell, for my mom, etc.), but this is the first one I ever made for myself. I'm hoping it will inspire and motivate me a bit when it comes to learning to cook. The kitchen is a pretty scary place for me- full of sharp knives and hot ovens and other misc. dangers for a klutz like me. :)

I've always struggled a bit with bias tape (I can never seem to catch the back of it when I'm stitching!), but this pattern used unconventional ways to apply it, which I really liked. And there is a lot of bias tape and rickrack on this apron. :) So even though it's simple to sew, it took a bit of time.

The pattern is also a bit different because the front is made from one piece of fabric instead of a skirt part attached to the top part. The waist ties are a bit higher (or they were on me, anyway), and the apron is looser than most I've made. Very comfy, though. :) I did make the front section about 1 inch wider.

I know that red and yellow is a slightly tacky combination. But I like it anyway. It reminds me of elementary school and ketchup and mustard. :)

Even though it wasn't in my list of fall sewing goals, the apron is something I've been meaning to make for a while now. I've also been making other progress in my fall sewing, too...I finished a dress today that I'll probably post about next week. I also found some cute crafty flannel for pajama pants.

I had ordered some wool blend gabardine from Denver Fabrics for my purple Penelope coat. I was hoping it would be perfect because 1) it's wool, 2) it was purple, and 3) it was on sale.

It came this week. Unfortunately, instead of being purple-ish like the picture implied, it is cranberry red like the name implies. The fabric is gorgeous and soft, but it won't work for the coat (not just the color...it's much too lightweight). It's so pretty that I'm not going to return it, so I guess it'll be made into a skirt or a dress or something. :)

So today I went to Joann's and bought everything I need for my purple coat. Purple corduroy, a green and cream print for the lining, and a slippery green lining for the sleeves. I also bought some Pellon Thermolam Plus to interline the coat with. I had planned on using flannel all along, but suddenly realized last night that it could be disastrous, given flannel's tendency to shrink on me.

The colors are so much prettier in person- the lighting was bad for this picture.

And another quick little project I did the other day- a cover for one of my old pillows. This is significant because I love the Eiffel Tower fabric and because this is the first project I've completed entirely on my vintage sewing machine. :) The machine ran perfectly, though it made me nervous because it was almost impossible to sew slowly on it...it just rolled along.

 What have you made lately?

Until next time,