Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Aprons

I've recieved an email several different times called "Aprons".  It always makes me want one of those mystical garments.  I just never have bought one ... where do you buy one anyway?  So, I found a little kit at Wal-mart.  The pattern is actually printed on the fabric.  You just cut it out and sew it together!  Now, I can't use the pattern again.  But, if I wanted a second one, I can just go buy another kit.  I mean, I'd have to buy the fabric anyway, right?  So, I cut out and sewed this apron.  I was really happy with how it turned out.  I have a long line of seamstresses in my family.  Some of them are pretty good at it and some of them are AMAZING at it!  I either didn't inherit these skills, or probably more likely, I just haven't tried it enough to have honed these skills.  Either way, I'm not a seamstress.  I hem and repair.  So, the fact that this garment actually LOOKS like an apron pleases me.


The email that insprired my apron making is below.  If you remember your Grandmother wearing an apron ... you should read it!  I am a little grossed out thinking about the "germ factor" ... but I still have fond memories! :)



Many of us have fond memories of the special ladies who wore aprons. Aprons were utilitarian for everyday use, but were an art form to some of those same ladies who made some really fancy aprons.

The History of 'APRONS'
I don't think our kids know what an apron is.
The principal use of Grandma's apron was to protect the dress underneath because she only had a few and because it was easier to wash aprons than dresses and aprons required less material. But along with that, it served as a potholder for removing hot pans from the oven.
It was wonderful for drying children's tears, and on occasion was even used for cleaning out dirty ears.
From the chicken coop, the apron was used for carrying eggs, fussy chicks, and sometimes half-hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven.
When company came, those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy kids.
And when the weather was cold, Grandma wrapped it around her arms.
Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow, bent over the hot wood stove.
Chips and kindling wood were brought into the kitchen in that apron.
From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegetables.
After the peas had been shelled, it carried out the hulls.
In the fall, the apron was used to bring in apples that had fallen from the trees.
When unexpected company drove up the road, it was surprising how much furniture that old apron could dust in a matter of seconds.
When dinner was ready, Grandma walked out onto the porch, waved her apron, and the men folk knew it was time to come in from the fields to dinner.
It will be a long time before someone invents something that will replace that 'old-time apron' that served so many purposes.
Grandma used to set her hot baked apple pies on the window sill to cool. Her granddaughters set theirs on the window sill to thaw.  They would go crazy now trying to figure out how many germs were on that apron.
I don't think I ever caught anything from an apron - but love...

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Two Down ... Two To Go!

If you remember back last Christmas, I had a craft tragedy with the loss of my Christmas stockings!  I then began to replace those lost stockings.  I have finally found the time to work on them and have completed the boys stockings.  I feel a little better now.  I still have 3 months until Christmas, so I feel like I'll finish the other two in plenty of time.
These patterns are from a series called "Snow Folk" afghan.  They were part of a set intended to cross stitch onto a blanket along with a little saying "Snow folk melt my heart".  I'll cross stitch the little saying on a piece of fabric to frame and hang over the stockings.  I'll be sure and get some snapshots of the next two stockings and the framed picture when those are completed.