Making the Apron... part two

To decorate the apron, I wanted to make it a girly as possible - my antidote to the yards of dark green!  I used my gorgeous floral ribbon to trim the bottom of the waistband, which I handstitched it on.

I then rifled my embroidery ribbons and chose a mid green,

which I used to sew on three large pink buttons.  

Normally I would dismiss them as pink, plain and ugly but they have a 50s feel to them that I liked for this project and they are a nice foil to the fancier ribbon (shame that the colour doesn't photograph well).  I alternated the stitches to look like waffle stitch, one of my favourite embroidery stitches.

Finally, the hem. 

The main idea for this apron was that you would not wear it at full length, but rather pin/button/tie it to the waistband to to create a large pocket in which you could keep or put things; such as the washing line pegs which started this idea in the first place.

 As I mentioned in my last post; I kept thinking about buttonloops but I was adamant that I wanted to use a buttonhole.  I started first on my sewing machine; the programme has gone awry and five failed attempts and a hole in my apron hem later, I did my first rehem... I then decided to handstitch the buttonholes using tailors buttonhole, another of my favourite embroidery stitches... one dogs dinner later (there really is no other description for the utter mess that I had created) and I was on my second rehem!  As well as this, using a buttonhole had one downside that I couldn't quite get past, as I buttoned the hem up, you would see the underside of the apron.  As I was having so much trouble with it, I decided to sleep on it and in doing so figured out that the buttonloops that my intuition kept bringing up would a) work and b) solve my problem.

Buttonloops:

A few years ago I made a blind.  It was purely decorative and so it didn't need to be drawn up or let down.  I sewed buttons across the top of the blind and then buttonloops out of embroidery thread to hang the blind in place.

Using a purple embroidery thread that matched the thread that I'd used for the hem.  I sewed two long stitches, the width of the button.

I then sewed a blanket stitch along the length of the threads.

  

Continuing to the end, finishing with a single knot and then running the thread back through the hem to hide it before trimming it.  I twisted the blanket stitch slightly so that it's "spine" spirals for a decorative effect.

As it is looped over the button, the hem folds with the right side visible, a finish I prefer to the wrong side being seen.

And there it is... my quick little project has taken far too long and been far more involved than I had originally anticipated; but I am pleased with the results.  The three buttons allow for lots of permutations in playing with the hem; the pocket it creates is good and deep and open enough that its quick and easy to put things in/get things out of; and it has that slightly fanciful feel that I love about a good 50s apron!

The colour reminds me so much of my Nan, and I hope that Grandma Edith would have appreciated the effort!  Its practical and pretty and best of all thrifty, it could become a favourite.

Materials:

1 1/2 yds 44" wide material

 Buttons

Ribbon

Embroidery Threads

Any other decoration that you like

And, in my case, patience!

Intuition is a frustrating mistress!

I am a great believer in intuition but it has been testing me of late.  I cannot see, for example, why it sent me off on the alternative route to work last Monday, which could have so nearly ended up with one wreaked Smart car and me in an ambulance on my way to hospital... except that I got some unplanned practice in sudden avoidance manoeuvres; always the best kind I think!

And so it has been with my apron.  Over and over again I have said to myself, "make the loops for the buttons" (more later), and each time I have stubbornly insisted that "no, only buttonholes will do".  Well, three days and three re-hems later, I have learnt my lesson and, in the process, have figured out that the loops will actually work better and solve the one big issue that I had with the buttonholes... now, intuition, why couldn't you have mentioned that first?!

One long, green apron

...and a rogue leaf!  It can't stay looking like this for long, and I doubt very much that I'd ever wear it full length but it's necessary for what I have planned.

Making the Apron... part one

I decided that I'd make this apron using materials from my stash; thrifty, my Grandmothers would have approved of!  The two colours that I remember Nan wearing most were green and brown, and so I decided to use the dark green cotton left over from the 9yr olds Victorian costume last year.  Honestly, it may not be my favourite colour, but it's a lovely cotton and it goes well with the most gorgeous ribbon that I bought on a whim and have not dared use for about 5 years now!  Again, I think the Grandmothers would approve.  Added to that, I raided the store of buttons and bits that my mother gave me last year, I'll have a play with them later.

The Waistband:

I have no firm interfacing, but I do have some leftover coutil, so I cut a 23" x 3" length to use instead.

I used this as a template to cut two lengths of the green, 25" x 3.5".

Right sides together I lined the two layers of green and the coutil up and stitched a line straight line down the edge, 1/4" in.

 I pressed the seam open and then folded in closed and ironed both sides again for a crisp finish.

The Ties:

Thank you prudencerabbit at BurdaStyle, I first used this method of inserting ties into a waistband when making her Obi Apron and decided to repeat here, but with a far deeper gather (x2 waistband width) than was used on the Obi Aprons.

On the fold, I cut two pieces 22" x 6".  I kept them folded and sewed 1/4" seam from the top (open) end down to the fold.

 I turned them inside out and pressed them.

 At the open end, I sewed three gather lines, using the longest stitch on my machine.

 I pulled the gathers until the ties were the same width as the coutil in the waistband, 2 3/4".

With the waistband opened out and turned over, I pinned the ties onto the front panel: this is the side that lays directly against the coutil.  When pinning there are three important things to remember: 

1) the gathered end of the ties face the unfinished end of the waistband, with the end of the ties laying at the middle of the waistband;

2) the tie needs to be laid as close to the sewn top seam of the waistband for the nicest finish;

3) the tie must not be wider than the coutil underneath.

Once pinned, I folded the back panel over the top of the pinned tie (i.e. right sides together) and sewed the tie in place.

 Once sewn in, the tie was trimmed to 1/4" of the seam, any visible gather threads removed and the entire waistband turned outside in.  I do love this finish.

The Apron Skirt:

To achieve the final look that I want, this apron needs to be longer than the classic knee-length, so I measured from my waist to my knees and added 6".  In my case, this came to 30", with another 2" for hemming.  The fabric I am using is 44" wide and I wanted to use the full width to get the deepest gather possible.  I sewed a deep hem (1") with a contrasting thread and three gather lines at the top. 

 I decided to leave the side seams as is, they suit my functional mood.

 I liked the stitch detail on the hem so much that I added it, retrospectively, to the ends of the ties.

 Being careful to neatly tie the threads off and then sew them back into the fabric, before trimming them, for the neatest finish. 

 Once gathered, the skirt was pinned right side to right side to the front panel, only, of the waistband.

 It was sewn onto the front side of the waistband following the bottom edge of the coutil.

 Once sewn on, turn the skirt seam into the waistband, over the coutil and underneath the back waistband panel.  Press lightly and then fold and pin the back panel of the waistband in place, slipstitch closed.

And you have one apron - picture tomorrow, it's too dark for a decent photo tonight!

Tomorrow I will pretty it up and add the final touches.

The Apron... design

I've been looking at 40s and 50s Apron patterns the last few days, gradually pulling together ideas for my apron pattern.  I knew I did not want an apron with a bib, and whilst I love the flirty petal edged aprons, they would not suit either.  I toyed with different waistbands too, but couldn't find one I really, really liked...  in the end I decided on a simple, narrow waistband and full skirt.  I also wanted to design an apron which at it's core was functional/utilitarian, but which I could "pretty up" with the details; ribbons, buttons etc.