Aunt Bekah's Visit, and an Apron

Aunt Bekah got to visit for a week. It was a lot of fun. Isaiah got to hear Beowulf again. And eat a lot of peaches. And watch Star Wars Rebels season 1 through at least 3 times.


She was kind enough to model some old sewing projects for me, that I sewed this year but never got round to photographing.

Here is my standard T-shirt. I like cap sleeves, v necks, and fitted but not too fitted. I make them from T-shirts from the thrift store, because its so very much cheaper than buying knits new.

Here is an apron I made in May. I love aprons. You can wipe kids jammy fingers on them, you can scoop up and transport laundry/toys/oranges, etc in your skirt without flashing people. They are so handy, and erase the extra stress of worrying of getting tomato sauce/peanut butter/dishwater on your favorite clothes.

I based it off of Richard Scarry's picture of Grandma Bear's apron. Given how comfortable it is, I assume it must have been a standard type of apron back in the days when women wore aprons a lot more (Grandma Bear is always wearing her apron). It is SOOO comfortable.

See how the neck straps come down the back.

 Here is an example of the apron on Mommy Cat.

I love aprons, but I hate feeling something pulling on the back of my neck (like a halter top) it makes me feel like I'm being choked. This apron's design is very good, its shoulder straps cross across the back and then connect in a wide X to the sides of the apron, bearing the weight very nicely. The fit can be adjusted by the standard ties on the sides.

Here is a write up of the measurements I used.

It was simple and straightforward to make, basically the waistband is a long rectangle that you iron in half lengthwise, inserting in another rectangle that you gather to be the bottom half of the apron. Then you sew the waistband's edges down and it holds the skirt part in. If you stop here its a half apron.
To make it a full apron, I just sewed another rectangle (the top part) with 2 wide straps onto it. Then tried it on, pinning the straps accross my back, and then cut and sewed them to the proper place.  Its all rectangles and straight seams. Ironing helps it go together very easily. I got 2 half aprons and one full apron out of a nice weight cotton sheet.

Plus, aprons look so pretty and tough and cool. Like Ma Ingalls. She was the essence of coolness...

And the kids decided that mommy had taken enough pictures of Aunt Bekah....

She wanted to hold Isaiah too....

And it still fits at 9 months pregnant too...