funky modern apron, just for the hell of it!

do you do linkups? like {Sew} Modern Mondays, or Fabric Tuesdays? are there others that you do? share!

i came across those two today, and was trying to think of what i could write about, when i realized exactly how many projects i've yet to post!

this was a quick, fun project, using super modern fabric, that i made back in june.



i fell in love with the fabric, even though it's so totally not my colours. i wanted to make something out of it, but i knew i would never use whatever i made! a door prize for the VMQG's 1 year anniversary party was the perfect excuse.



i picked up half a metre of the onion print, which is a Hoodie design for Blank Quilting, and half a metre of Kona cotton in curry.

the curry Kona is kind of amusing, because i HATE this colour! when i bought it at Spool of Thread, Lili wasn't working, so i told Henry that he had to tell her that i bought it, she wouldn't believe him. Lili LOVES this colour, so we've discussed our love/hate on multiple occasions.

(i once ran across a set of vintage melmac set in curry for really really cheap - and i passed it by, because of the colour. if you knew how much i LOVE melamine dishware, you'd understand how drastic that is!!)


but the curry was the perfect colour to match the onions, so i couldn't resist.


i used almost exactly all of the fabric i bought - i think i was left with a teensy piece of onions only a few inches long, and no kona at all.



i joined 3 strips x WOF and used my ruffler foot to pleat them, and it was the perfect length for the hem and the sides.


i was so busy taking notes that i didn't even see who won the apron, but i hope they like it as much as i liked making it!



(linking up with {Sew} Modern Mondays and Fabric Tuesdays)

Stripey Apron and More made of vintage sheets

i think i mentioned a while ago that i joined a swap on flickr. if you've been following my blog for long enough, you'd know that i used to swap on craftster.org A LOT. i haven't done many swaps in a long time, and the few that i have done have been single projects, with no specific focus on the recipient. this swap was really fun to do because the theme was really open, just kitchen goodies, and i got to "stalk" my partner and try to guess what she'd like. that was always my favourite part of swapping, the inspiration from my partner, the excuse to make things that i wouldn't make otherwise.

i crafted for Melinda of quirky granola girl.


i read over the info that she wrote on her swap questionnaire, spent wwaaaaaayy too long browsing through her flickr favourites, and read back through her blog looking for ideas.

she said that she likes green, blue and aqua for colours, as well as yellow and orange, and cotton, linen, polka dots and stripes as patterns. looking through her blog i saw that she likes vintage sheets and string quilts, and her flickr favourites showed that she liked linen with prints, and fun little pouches. i read that she recently participated in a fabric swap for I Spy fabric, and last year she was in a tea towel swap.

the main project i made for the swap was an apron - which was pretty likely, given how apron obsessed i've been! but also because Melinda said that she'd like one. ;)

i wanted to stay away from ruffles, lots of gathering, that sort of thing, so i made the apron to have a bit of fullness without having to gather the fabric - i see aprons that are straight up and down, without any fullness, but they seem really impractical to me. sometimes you need protection even when you're not standing up straight like a mannequin, right!?



i used strips of vintage sheets in shades of blue, green and a bit of aqua, primarily in dots and stripe patterns, and sewed them directly to a piece of white twill weight cotton to add a bit of strength and weight to the sheets. if you think of quilt as you go strip piecing, that's basically what i did, with no batting.





i sewed the three pattern pieces together, and added a trim of blue rickrack around all of the edges - i like the added pop of colour that it adds.



i created striped pleats along the bottom - again, avoiding ruffles.



i used the polka dot sheet to make straps, and used D-rings at the top of the bib to make the neck strap adjustable.





and i lined it in kona cotton to make everything all neat and tidy.



i really really love how it turned out - it was hard to give up!




and then there were the extras. the apron took longer than i thought it would, and then i was in the art jewelery/enameling classes with Richard Salley last weekend, which totally wiped me out, so i wasn't able to finish it as soon as i would have liked. and then i decided to add the tea towel, and didn't realize that i had to let the paint cure for 24hrs.... so i felt bad, and made a little linen pouch to add in.



the first thing i wanted to make was a matching potholder, and it seemed obvious to go with a string quilt block.



because Melinda isn't very fond of insulbrite, and prefers fulled wool inside potholders, i went off to the thrift store to pick up a sweater (any excuse for thrifting!).

i think the sweater i used was too thick - i thought it would be great for a potholder, but didn't think about struggling to quilt through it! but it did give the stripes great definition -



the back was just the same white twill - i wanted something thicker than one of the sheets so that the sweater didn't show through.


and then the tea towel. i made this silkscreen years ago, and keep meaning to haul it and a few others out to make patches, but never seem to get around to it. this was the perfect excuse! i used Jacquard textile ink to silkscreen. it's a fun iridescent blue/green colour.




and then the final project, a cute little linen pouch. i used more rickrack - i really hope Melinda doesn't hate rickrack! i wanted to pair linen with a print, and used the vintage trim to pull out the colours a bit.



i used a vintage orange zipper, and lined the pouch with orange kona. (i love kona, but you've probably figured that out by now)





i rounded out the package with some canadian chocolate, for grown ups as well as her little boy, and a little stack of I Spy squares from my stash.





i always get so focused on what i'm making for swaps that i forget that i'll be receiving as well - but i'm definitely going to be watching the mail next week!

Putting On The Ritz Aprons!

these are the two aprons that i made for the Abbotsford Sewing and Crafts Show. the challenge was sponsored by the Association of Sewing and Design Professionals, and the theme was, as the title of this post indicates, Putting on the Ritz.

i started planning my first apron pretty early on, because i knew it was going to be incredibly time consuming to make. i was inspired by my friend Louise and the amazing things she creates out of silk, and a recent birthday gift that i made with purple silk (that i haven't posted - i should do that soon!), and decided that i wanted to make the apron out of silk dupioni.



and black lace ruffles. lots and lots of black lace ruffles! and covered buttons, because i love them, and handmade fuchsia lame piping, which i didn't love making as much, but i loved the end result.



i started on the ruffles first, and using my fabulous ruffle foot, made a whole lot of black lace trim. i did the math afterwards, and i think i used about 50 YARDS of lace. yes, that's 5-0 yards! each row took about 300", and there are 6 rows, so that's 1800"... it was a lot of ruffling!



i sewed the ruffles on in rows to the underskirt fabric, which was a polyester crepe that matched the silk perfectly. i didn't want to mark the rows visibly on the good side of the fabric, because this apron isn't exactly wash and wear, so i marked them on the backside and basted along them so that i'd have guides on the front side.



after i'd sewed the ruffles on, i assembled the underskirt, making it into a bubble skirt with all of the seams enclosed.

the overskirt is black dupioni silk, a loooong rectangle with curved ends. i made bias piping out of fuchsia lame fabric and sewed it along the sides and bottom of the silk. as i was making it, i was wondering whatever possessed me to do it, but it's really that extra touch of glitz. after the skirt was assembled, i went back and hand stitched little gathers along the skirt to show off the underskirt, and sewed small covered buttons on each spot.

the waistband is fuchsia dupioni, with extra long ties at the back. i love long ties on aprons.



the bib of the apron is black dupioni, trimmed with the lame piping. the neck strap is sewn on, with larger fuchsia dupioni covered buttons.



so that was my amazing, super time consuming but totally worth it apron.

the second apron wasn't nearly as cool!



i had this idea about draping and bias, but totally ran out of time to really experiment until it worked the way i envisioned it.

i was a bit concerned that my definition of putting on the ritz would be a little too gothic lolita for the judges, so i wanted to go with something a little more traditional. sequins!!


since one of the judging criteria was use of colour, i also wanted to get away from black, and use a colour other than pink, so i decided to go with purple. funnily enough, a lot of people thought the silk apron was black and purple anyway!



i bought a purple sequined mesh fabric, and a sueded satin in the same tone. i started out sewing them together as a square, and then cut off one corner for the bodice/bib of the apron. i cut 5" off the remainder of the square, leaving me with the opposite corner of the square for the skirt. in hindsight, i shouldn't have bothered cutting those 5" off, it would have added a bit more fullness in the skirt if i'd left them on.


(this photo is probably the most accurate colour-wise)

i sewed a waistband inbetween, and threaded a piece of purple ribbon through the waistband to gather it a bit. since the outer fabric is a mesh, i couldn't use white or black elastic that would be visible.



before i sewed everything together, i reinforced the grommet points with an extra layer of the backing fabric adhered with wonder under. as with the elastic, interfacing would have been visible.

i'm not happy with the grommets on the bib, they turned out a bit warped because i'm just not strong enough to set them with one or two hammer strikes. luckily, that's not very visible! and the ones on the waistband, that are more visible, worked much better.



instead of making waist ties and a neck strap, i made two long straps out of the satin. they go through the grommets on the bib and are held in place with knots, then crisscross across the back to go through the waistband grommets.



i'm really happy with the colour of the grommets though! i tried a few different things, and the purple staZon ink matched the colour the best. the alcohol inks looked really cool, but weren't the right shade of purple.





so those were my two entries. and now that they're done, i can move onto the next apron on my list - but first i need to recover from the show itself!

pretty pretty apron!!

i have pictures from the sewing and craft expo this weekend, and of the two aprons that i made for the contest, and hopefully i'll get them edited and uploaded aoon.



in the meantime, i realized that i never posted this apron! i finished it about a month ago, and have plans for many more - as soon as i find the time. i used my vintage pillowcase apron tutorial that i wrote up in 2009, and it came together very easily, except for the fact that i kept changing my mind and ripping bits out. i was very indecisive the day i started it!

in progress


front


back


with the tie wrapped back around to the front


and the side


isn't it pretty?? i love the crochet detail.

Aprons Galore!

one of the challenges from last month's VMQG meeting was to make an apron. this challenge deviates from quilting, but goes along with a challenge at the upcoming 19th Annual Sewing & Crafts show in Abbotsford at the end of this month. (there isn't any mention of it on their site, but if you open up the PDF of the show program, it's on page 14 of 15)

this is all the info that's given -
-The Apron Challenge is open to all residents of Canada.
-The entry must be an apron made from a pattern company or one you have
personally pattern drafted.
-The apron must be made to fit an adult male or female
-The Entries will be judged for sewing skill, creativity in using “Putting on the Ritz” theme, use of color and overall appearance.
-All aprons must be made this year for the competition.
-All judges’ decisions are final.
-Each entry must be marked with your name, age and address and securely
fastened with a safety pin to the apron.

intriguing, right? i love aprons!

that might seem odd, but it's true. i LOVE aprons! i don't cook or clean or bake with any regularity, but i adore aprons, and always wish i had more excuses to make them. my vintage apron collection is reaching ridiculous proportions, but i still can't resist the lovely 40s and 50s cotton prints.


(this is just a small portion of the collection...)

so obviously, i've had aprons on the brain lately. and on top of that challenge, Sonja from Artisania has decided that she needs motivation to finish the apron that she started ages ago, so she's started a low stress sew-along on flickr.



you should come check it out, there have been some awesome inspirational aprons posted so far!

and in addition to the sew along, we're doing a swap! the International Kitchen Goodies Swap is pretty lowkey - you're only required to send one item to your partner, and it doesn't have to be an apron! you could make pot holders, tea towels, dish cloths, coasters, aprons, market bags, reusable cloth snack bags, tea pot cozies, french press cozies, mug cozies, toaster and stand mixer covers, place mats, mug rugs, napkins, table runners, bread baskets, egg cozies, or more, and they don't have to be sewn either. they can can be crocheted or knitted or embroidered.. whatever you'd like!

sign ups for the swap end at midnight PST on March 7th, or once we've reached 40 swappers.

Vintage Pillowcase Apron - Tutorial!!!

So I’ve been trying to think of cool things to make for my blog giveaway. I have a list of ideas, and I’m still trying to decide between them for each day, but I really liked the idea of making an apron out vintage linens. I’m a little bit apron obsessed (this is just a portion of my vintage apron collection!). I was imagining a white pillowcase or runner with floral embroidery on it, and I KNOW I have some, but the thought of digging around in my crawlspace for one was NOT inspiring at all!

So I dug through my more recent purchases, and came up with this funky patterned pillowcase instead. I love the stripes and patterns, it seems like an older version of some of the current big name fabric designers!


So I set to work, making the apron, photographing each step, writing myself notes, and it’s really coming along nicely and all of a sudden I think “wait… didn’t Betz White JUST do a pillowcase apron tutorial? crap!” no wonder my idea seemed so good! I totally have to credit Betz for the inspiration!

However, my apron is quite a bit different than hers, so I decided to go ahead and create the tutorial for it. And here it is!

Vintage Pillowcase Apron



A note about the fabric – vintage pillowcase can vary quite a bit in their weight. If the fabric is especially lightweight, and you’d like to use the apron to protect your clothing from liquids, you’re going to need to line the apron skirt with a heavier fabric. In addition, you may need to interface the waistband. The pillowcase I used is fairly thin – not as thin as some, but not as thick as others. It’s fine without interfacing!

This apron took me about an hour and a half, and that’s with me photographing every step compulsively. It would’ve been shorter, so this is definitely a project you can do in an evening, or as a last minute hostess gift.

Start with a vintage (or new, but vintage is more fun!) pillowcase.

1. Cut a 15” piece from the bottom of the pillowcase, where the hem is. We’re going to use that pre-existing hem for our apron. Not only does it mean one less step for us to sew, the depth of the hem gives it extra weight, which will help the apron hang better.

2. Cut 3 pieces that are 4 ½” tall, the width of the pillowcase.


3. Trim seamed edge from the side of all pieces. Most pillowcases have one folded side and one seamed side. If your pillowcase is seamed on both sides, just pick one and cut it off.

*If your pillowcase has a centered design on the front, you’ll want to keep it centered! Instead of cutting the seam off the side of the 15” piece, cut up the centre back.

4. From one 4 ½” wide piece cut a piece that is 18-23” long. It depends on your waist size, you want it to cover your front entirely, and go a little bit to the back.

This is going to leave you with a little extra piece, if you’re feeling optimistic, try making a pocket out of it!


5. Press under the short edges of the apron skirt piece (the 15” piece) about ¼”, then press under again. (note – if you’d like to add trim or other decorations to your apron, add them BEFORE you hem the edges!


6. Stitch the seams on both sides of the skirt. My pillowcase had a tag sewn into the hem, and I thought it would be cool to leave in, as a reminder of what it once was.


7. Taking the 2 long 4 ½” wide pieces, fold them in half lengthwise and stitch along the long edge.

When you reach the corner, create a point at the end. If you’re uncomfortable doing this without a guide, just stitch down to the end, pivot, and stitch across, giving the tie a square end.

8. Press the seam and trim off the extra fabric, paying close attention to the corners.

Turn the ties right side out and press again.

9. Topstitch around the edges.


10. Finish one long edge of the waistband (the shorter 4 ½” piece). Begin by folding the edge under ¼”, pressing, then folding again, then stitching, the same as we did on sides of the apron skirt.



11. Divide the unfinished edge into 4 and pin to mark.


12. Divide the top edge of the apron skirt into 4 and mark with pins.


13. Change the stitch length on your machine to the longest stitch (usually 5), and change out your bobbin to use a bright colour (basting is a great way to use up the ends of bobbins!)


14. Stitch between the pins on the apron skirt, stopping at each pin and leaving longish tails (at least 2”) at the beginning and end of each section. Don’t backstitch!


15. While we’re at it, we want to baste the raw edge of the ties. Baste them then set them aside, attaching them is one of the last steps.


STOP NOW! Reset your stitch length to 2.5, and change back to the matching bobbin! Do it now before you forget! You’ll be seriously annoyed if you sew the rest of the apron in a baste stitch! Trust me on this!

16. Lay the skirt raw edge and the waistband raw edge together, right sides facing, matching pins.

17. Starting ½” from short end of the waistband, gather apron fabric by gently pulling the tails of thread. (The bobbin thread will pull easiest, which is why we used the bright colour for the bobbin instead of the needle thread.) Pin the apron to the waistband piece to secure layers.


18. You reset your stitch length, right? Okay, ready to go! Stitch the skirt to the waistband, removing pins as you go. Once you have sewn the whole length, gently tug on the basting threads and they’ll slip out. (NOTE - if you have a ruffler foot, which are seriously the best thing since sliced bread - and i love sliced bread, since i'm horrific at cutting it myself! - don't worry about any of this basting crap, just ruffle away! I'm assuming most people don't have $50 sewing machine feet though, so i did mine the hard way to show everyone. oh, the sacrifice.)

19. Press the seam towards the waistband.


20. Fold waistband piece right sides together with the finished long edge overlapping the gathered seam by ¼” and press.


21. Gather the unfinished end of each tie piece and fit them inside the folded waistband, one at each end. Pin in place.


22. Stitch the short ends of the waistband using ½” seam allowance. Take care not to catch the skirt in the seam.


23. Press, trim corners to reduce bulk.


24. Unfold waistband and press. Carefully pin the waistband in place on the wrong side of the apron. This will enclose the gathered seam.


25. Topstitch around the waistband, taking care to include the gathered seam allowance.


You’re done! Wear your apron with pride!




The straps on this apron are quite long – you can do them shorter if you’d like! If you have a tiny waist like my vintage dressform, you can even wrap them around twice!




I hope you liked the tutorial, and I’d LOVE to see your aprons!

If you liked the apron I made, you’re in luck, because it’s a prize in my BLOG GIVEAWAY!!