Seven Days of Aprons--Go Bananas Baking Day

Saturday's apron honors the traditional baking day of the week--a day when a girl could truly lose her mind and go bananas. It is light and airy, just the way a vintage housewife wanted her Saturday baked goods. Saturday was probably her busiest day of the week, because she still had the morning work to do, maybe some leftover laundry and ironing, and she wanted to prepare the dessert ahead of time for Sunday dinner. Then the whole afternoon was devoted to baking breads and pies for the week. All I can think of is, wonder woman or insane asylum.

The bib of my Saturday baking apron is, in fact, two vintage-style bread sacks. They are a bit faded and stained--which makes me like them even more for an apron! I did not go bananas making this one, at all. It was quite easy and went together pretty quick. So, guess what, I had time to bake banana bread! Here's the low-sugar recipe I use and a few pictures. These little baby banana breads will be great for dessert tomorrow. However, I'm looking out the window and I see my husband mowing--he might be pretty hungry later.

 
Saturday Baking Banana Bread
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cups Splenda No Calorie Sweetner
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas
1 stick light butter, softened
1/2 cup egg substitute (like Egg Beaters)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt

Orange Glaze
1 fresh squeezed orange (may not use it all--I only used about half the juice today)

3/4 cup to 1 cup powdered sugar (can use Splenda powdered sugar)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. Stir banana, butter, egg sub., and vanilla together and add all at once, stirring until just blended. Spoon batter into little greased loaf pans and bake 30 to 35 minutes. Slowly pour the orange juice into the powdered sugar, stirring until it reaches a nice thick consistency. Cool the breads, and drizzle on the orange glaze. The glaze will set, and you can keep these refrigerated, or serve them today.

 Now, back to the apron. It is finished with wide cream-colored ribbon ties, and a cute pocket from a completely different fabric I picked out to go with my apron skirt. Baking day is done!

Eat, write, dream, stitch and enjoy!

Seven Days of Aprons--Friday's a Clean Sweep

TGIF! Except for the fact that today's work week of aprons is all about cleaning. In the traditional chore days, Friday is cleaning day--but who says you can't look cute doing it. 

This apron began in my fabric stash where I found yards and yards of Laura Ashley material. It was one of those things I must have purchased years ago, didn't have a reason to purchase it, and then I put it away. It is sturdy enough to cover a cushion or a chair--which to me makes great apron fabric! I pretty much worship Laura Ashley fabrics, and so this material called out to me..."make me an apron fit for a diva!"

Just a side note, when I was young and just out of college, I covered my first apartment in periwinkle Laura Ashley fabric--it had little white flowers and I adored it. I'm always on the lookout for more Laura Ashley! So this piece of fabric did not want to share the glory, leading me to cut one whole piece for the apron.

That's when the cross-stitching began. I needed to add some kind of extra element to the bib. I have a wonderful pattern book called The Cross-Stitch Motif Bible, and it has tons of lettering, borders, and all kinds of categories of patterns. Just buy the DMC flosses numbered in the book, and you are set. Last summer I bought all the DMC this book called for, when it was on sale of course, and got it all organized, so I use this book a lot. I decided I needed something to celebrate housework, and I had seen a little sign in a craft shop that said "Housework Makes You Ugly" so I turned it around a bit--because we all know that cleaning is a workout and actually makes you pretty (ha ha!). I made this up and then added in my little housewife figurine, and found a cute flower to put in. However, just this step of making an embroidery to applique onto the apron took me about 2 hours! It was fun though, and you can't tell, but I used the shimmering aida cloth, so it's quite pretty.

One of my favorite housekeeper/maid characters of all time is Mammy from Gone with the Wind. So, in her honor, for cleaning day, I added the red petticoat-style ruffle trim on the bottom--two rows of red ruffle ribbon sandwich a white eyelet trim. Speaking of sandwich, at this point, I was working hard on this apron, and my blood-sugar was getting low--so I took a turkey bacon and garden tomato sandwich break. My garden tomatoes are a daily highlight right now, and I deserved it! (my model, Lauren, had leftover lasagne)

Because Laura Ashley fabric is the true diva of this whole scenario, I used the fabric to make the side ties, and then finished up using the fabric for a wide pocket in the middle. Done! Finally. Then, I actually cleaned house. What a day! I need a Friday night out!

Don't forget to take a break inbetween all of your creative eating, writing, dreaming and stitching!

Seven Days of Aprons--Thursday's Food Lover Shopping

Thursday's Apron Celebrates the Food Shopper. Now, we don't wear aprons to go shopping, unless we're Alice on The Brady Bunch, or Hazel the housekeeper, but in the old-fashioned weekday list of chores, Thursday was devoted to shopping, so that's the theme of today's homemade apron.

Why a little shopping therapy had to have a whole day devoted to it in the weekly chores for America's homemakers goes way back to the early 1900's when grocery stores served you. Depending on how staffed they were, a grocery store's workers had to measure out all the dry goods for a shopper, slice all the meat on your grocery list, and fetch everything from behind the counters. This was labor intensive for these assistants, and took a long time for shoppers to wait in line and be served. What a hassle. I'll never complain about going to the supercenter, where I can get so many things all at once, again! (really?)

 
 The laborious trips to food shop began to change when the Piggly Wiggly, of all places, began the concept of the self-service grocery store. Thank you Piggly Wiggly! Now we can love food shopping, get home fast, and cook it up fresh. That's why my shopping themed apron is full of heart. The bib has the front of an old toddler tee shirt appliqued to it. In fact, it was Lauren's little shirt (my model). Appropro she is wearing it in its second life as a kitchy apron now.

While I love those little quilty hearts from that old toddler tee (which is why I could never throw that little t-shirt away--I just kept it all this time in my fabric stash), I think my favorite part of this apron is the fact that the apron skirt is made from one of my mom's old tablecloths from the 1950's! That cotton table cloth is such a cute piece of vintage fabric, but so old it had a few holes in it. I patched over those with cross-stitch hearts appliqued in each bottom corner of the skirt. I found an old piece of brown cross-stitch linen, and embroidered "Food Lover" in red to make the pocket. The ties are simply wide red satin ribbon. It's all about food lover creativity!

Today I woke up early, worked out, went out in the garden, and got back to my sewing in record time. It was really nice to do today's food and flower shopping in the backyard. I heart summer!

Eat, write, dream, and stitch up a little creativity when you're done shopping!

Seven Days of Aprons--Wednesday's I Heart Stitching

Wednesday's Apron is stitched with love. Decades ago, Monday was Wash Day, Tuesday was Ironing Day--revised to be Gardening Day--and Wednesday was Sewing Day. I like to call it I Heart Stitching to celebrate all those hand crafts: sewing, knitting, embroidery, crochet and sew on! I can't help but think it would still be fun to go to one of those old-fashioned sewing bees, stitch with my gal pals, drink gallons of ice tea and eat pies. When you think about it, the sewing bee was really the first girls' night out--they just devoted a whole day to it, and made cool stuff.

Wednesday's work week apron began with the topiary fabric that just makes me happy! This finished off what I had left of it (previously I stitched up tall adirondack chair pillows with it).  I did cut a few squares for a little quilt though. Then I used ticking for the apron skirt, and patched on an angel, leftover from an ornament cross-stitching frenzy of 1997. Kinda funny, it has the year on there. I had made the purple polka dot pocket the other day with the word "homemade" embroidered on it and finished with a button, and a pretty purple heart completed the appliques. On the non-finished side of the ticking, instead of hemming, I stitched on a trim of heart lace, just for fun. I like a little mismatching.

Like gardening, stitching is pure therapy for me. Lately I've heard that treadle sewing machines are making a comeback. I do have memories of my mom's old black Singer treadle sewing machine from the 1960's. Wish I had it! I would love to try treadle sewing--a little workout while you stitch.

I think this is my favorite apron so far--but I have some interesting plans for the next four aprons--celebrating a chore a day. (Am I crazy? Who celebrates chores?!!) I absolutely have to clean house today--and I can't say I'm looking forward to it. Then I'm making a casserole for dinner, from the chicken I slow-cooked yesterday (I'll post that recipe Monday). After all that, I'd love to have some time to cross-stitch. It is actually my favorite kind of stitching. I guess you could say I'm a cross-stitch-aholic and have been for the last 20 years. Here is a cross-stitch pillow I made for my daughter--I loved this pattern and although it's more challenging to stitch with, I love the sparkling DMC flosses. I am rambling today, but I think I could talk about stitching, all day. Guess I need either a good sewing bee or a girls' stitch-n-bitch night out!


Eat, Write, Dream, and Stitch Yourself Happy Today!

A Work Week of Aprons--Tuesdays In the Garden

Here comes number Tuesday, in seven days of aprons! In the chore-a-day world of yesteryear, Tuesday was traditionally Ironing Day, because it followed Wash Day. But, when the homemaker's laundry load eased up at some point in time, Tuesday seemed like a good day to garden--really get in there and pull weeds, water, prune, and gather! My Gardening Day apron captures the spirit.

I can't imagine, though, only gardening on Tuesdays. During the summer, I pretty much garden whenever I need to, and most days I gather my herb bouquets in the mornings. I gather from my cutting flower garden once or twice a week--and right now, the tomatoes are pouring in so it won't be long before I'll be canning tomatoes and salsa! Woo hoo!

My Gardening Day apron bib is made from a gorgeous upholstry-weight fabric that I got for a steal from that fabulous huge fabric store in Charolotte. The sisters who own the place gave me the entire bolt for about $30 on a closeout! I was so excited. My husband wondered what in the world I would do with all that material. But he was happy to find out. So far, I've made pillows--some for Christmas gifts last year--I've created seat cushion covers for the dining room plus long pillows for each dining chair, tote bags, recovered a little garage sale salon chair, and now it's part of an apron to celebrate Tuesdays.
 
The apron is finished with a polka dot green cotton for the skirt, a pocket from the garden fabric, and extra-long polka dot ribbon ties to wrap around and tie in the front.

Next time I come home from work and need to run out in the garden in my nice work clothes--I'll have this apron handy on the greenhouse near my gardening gloves, ready to gather a basket of zinnias and a bunch of lemon thyme.

My garden is really a form of therapy, I think. Taking care of your garden, is like taking care of yourself. Nothing can replace digging in the dirt, the fresh smells, sunshine, and healthiness of eating fresh vegetables and herbs. Even if it's just a little patch, or a pot on a patio, I sincerely hope you have a garden in your life!

Eat, write, dream, and stitch up a little therapy today!

Stitching a Work Week of Aprons--Monday Is Wash Day

Today's apron honors a history full of sunny Mondays where clothes lines everywhere displayed the day's wash, because in the week's list of chores, Monday was wash day. Before modern-day washers and dryers, wash day included boiling hot water, stirring the clothes, using a wash board, wringers, clothes lines, and knowing just the right combination of cleaning chemicals. And yes, it took all day. And yes, you'd better wear an apron for this messy chore!

This week, I'm making an apron a day--seven days of aprons representing each day's chore.

Vintage embroidered dishtowels are famous for displaying the Monday through Sunday mottos, but I've never really seen it on aprons. Today's apron, in honor of laundry day, is embroidered with the classic red letters in DMC floss and appliqued with a ribbon clothes line and little pieces of laundry cut from my fabric scraps plus a cross-stitched star, once meant to be an ornament. The apron skirt is made of muslin and finished with an eyelet ruffle trim, and wide cream-colored ribbon ties. 

The apron bib is a vintage tee towel which caught my eye because of its sweet ducks-in-a-row crochet. From found items and fabric scraps, Monday's Wash Day Apron came together nicely. This is number one in a work week of aprons--six more to come! (thanks for modeling, Lauren)

Wearing this apron could also lead to a little cooking, writing, dreaming and stitching. Have a happy, sudsy Monday!

The Comforting Cloth Between Stitching and Cooking: The Apron

The word, Homemade, is long--at least when you are embroidering it! Thirty minutes later, I have finished rusticly writing Homemade onto some polka dots, along with a little heart and a button. This will be a cute pocket on my first homemade apron.

There is something sweet and comforting these days about tying on an apron to create food and art, plant seeds, or sweep the kitchen with my new broom (handcrafted from real broom corn and oak by a local artisan--I love sweeping now). An apron connects me to Mom, the aunts, and Grandma. It gets me ready to stir up a batch of cookies or can fresh garden tomatoes. In an apron, I'm CEO of my little homemade world--a nice place to be sometimes. (that's my Grandma, Mary, on the right)

So, it occurred to me, why not stitch up some special aprons? Artistic, creative aprons. I could also embroider Homemade on an old piece of cross-stitch linen I found, for a pocket that could be attached to vintage fabric from one of Mom's old old tablecloths. For another apron I could use the topiary fabric, found in an expansive fabric shop last summer in North Carolina (the textile capital), for a confident bib. Colorful ribbon will make a nice shortcut on some of the aprons for ties. I have a stack of cross-stitched angels, which were part of an ornament-making frenzy in 1997--could be cute appliqued to a few aprons (angels in the kitchen).

So there, I have a plan. Why didn't I think of this a few summers ago, when I played a "Who Mom" in Seussical the Musical, and I had to embellish an apron for my costume (The Who's were in all yellow--I knitted my headband too)! Anyway, I am going to stitch SEVEN DAYS OF APRONS!!! They will be inspired by that little saying that once guided homemakers everywhere in their weekly chores: the old Monday Is Wash Day saying. I'm going to revise it a little as I go.

I have to remember that back in the day before automatic washers and dryers and dishwashers, chores were hard labor. People had to wear their clothes more than once before washing, even their work clothes, and so aprons were not just a fashion, but truly a necessity. And it really did take at least a whole day to do the laundry.

Starting Monday, Laundry Day, I'm going to produce an apron a day. I guess that will, in my world, make every day sewing day. But that's okay. I'll probably end up selling these in my flea market booth. In the meantime, this weekend, inbetween fireworks, I'm pulling together the material from vintage fabric and scraps (my favorite thing to sew from), along with what to applique (I LOVE to sew things onto things). So we'll see what happens from there. I'm making up my own pattern too. But, if I do this, my reward will be this lovely book I saw at Barnes & Noble all about aprons, with patterns.

This is a project to celebrate our homemade past and the independence we have now, to buy it or make it. Happy 4th of July everyone! Eat, Write, Dream, Stitch! (Today, I just did a little writing and dreaming.)

Thanks Mom and Grandma.