Cooking-n-Crafting Couture--The Scrappy Apron

Will all the apron lovers please stand up, tighten your bows and show off your lovely extra layers? I adore aprons, and sometimes I really get into apron-stitching mode. After all, aprons are great for the kitchen, the garden, and the craft room--and if you have a really cute apron, it can be adorable over a t-shirt and jeans. My daughter has a friend who wears her vintage aprons to school--so cute!

My aprons have to have an attitude...a personality...or a past. One of my aprons was actually made from one of my mother's housedresses from the 1960's combined with some vintage lace and embroidery. That one is fun because I remember a little me seeing my mother vacuuming in that housedress with curlers in her hair! I didn't let that housedress go in the scrap heap--it now gets its turn, being cute and functional.

I have a couple of one-piece aprons stitched completely from a bolt of Laura Ashley home furnishing fabric that I dearly love, because I've adored Laura Ashley fabrics for decades. I remember buying this fabric, with no special purpose, and it was nice to be able to make one-piece aprons from it.

Really though--all you need are strips and scraps to make THE most adorable gardening-cooking-and-crafting couture!

My latest ruffly cutie-cute girly apron began with this thin floral material for the bib--I wanted the bib to be very lightweight and papery--and it's trimmed in a festive ribbon. The skirt is nothing but fabric scraps of some of my favorite material, all sewn to a white tee towel. After an hour of ironing, pinning and stitching it together on the sewing machine, I have my second girly apron. (I think the tie in the back took just as long as the whole rest of the apron.) You can see my first girly apron here.

Now if you're a skinny minnie, like my wicker model, this might wrap all the way around you--but I made it for me, and it fits just the way I want. Another bonus to making your own apron!

Pinning the ribbon to the bib.

Grandma and my mom.

Wish I had this apron my mom wore as a young bride--she was so cute.
My next apronology goal is to make a waterproof apron. If I can get my hands on some cute oil cloths--that could be a possibility. One of the local salons told me they would love to have some cute aprons like that for all of their beauticians! Hmmm.

Eat, Write, Dream, and Stitch in an apron!