Black and white apron

Here's my submission for the latest Tie One On theme, Black and White.





This one was really easy and fun to sew up. I quite liked making the pleats, with all the straight, mindless stitching. Rather relaxing. And even sewing on the bias tape edging, which I usually have very poor luck with, went very smoothly. And I remembered to make the ties nice and long so they wrap around to tie in the front, which I much prefer but sometimes forget to account for. A very pleasant experience, this apron.

Fall apron

We flew back into Chicago Saturday night, so on Sunday I was able to knock out my submission for the latest Tie One On theme: plaid. Of course, I should have done all my catch-up blog reading before my sewing, because then I'd have known that the Tie One On deadline had been pushed back to October 1. But it's fine because Sunday was very crisp and cool and fallish and perfect for making a plaid apron. Plus, now I'm ahead of schedule! On top of things! Et cetera.



I used the Reversible Apron pattern from Lotta Jansdotter's Simple Sewing. It was pretty easy and fits pretty well. But next time I'll make the apron strings at the waist each several inches longer. I like them extra long so they can easily tie in front with plenty of string left to spare.

And the reverse side?



Perfect for whipping up some football-watching chili for Adam on fall weekends.

Edited 02/21/12 in response to a request to add a back view of the apron:

Denim apron

This is my "Pie Making Apron" for this month's Tie One On. (There's also a pie, of course! I wrote out the recipe and everything.)



This apron was ill-planned and a real pain in the butt. I wanted to use up some more of the denim from that old skirt. It was a long skirt, so there is lots of denim to go around. And I wanted to use that tiny bit of leftover white ruffle on the pocket. So from those starting points I just started cutting and sewing without a blueprint. All the materials were leftover from other projects, so I just threw caution to the wind.

Which is why the top is all weird. The width of the top edge did not work for laying-flat-against-my-chest purposes, so I just stuck the neck loop where I wanted. So that whole corners-sticking-out-and-flapping-free thing was not a stylistic choice. And I eventually gave up on the idea that this would look good close-up. There are all sorts of stitching oddities going on and none of the thread properly matches the fabric. And it was in attempting to sew through a thick chunk of this denim that I bent my needle. So, like I said, it was a real pain in the butt.

But from a bit back, I think it looks rather cute, in its own little misfit way.

Green cafe apron

After taking forever to finish the shirt and being too busy to sew the last couple weekends, I really felt the need for some instant gratification ths weekend.



This cafe apron from Lotta Jansdotter's Simple Sewing fit the bill perfectly. It came together very quickly, and it looks pretty cute too!

The only change I made to the instructions in the book was the pocket. The book has you cut one pocket, fold all the edges over, and stitch it down. I cut two pockets (one in reverse). Then I sewed them together with right sides facing, leaving the top open to turn it right side out. After turning and pressing, I stitched the top closed. Then I sewed it to the apron. That was not the best explanation, but I think doing it that way made it a lot easier, plus now the inside of the pocket won't have any raggy unraveling edges.

The fabric is all from my stash (though my small collection of fabric is probably too small to properly be refered to as a stash). Which means it will meet the criteria for this month's Tie One On theme, "no $$." I've never submitted something for Tie One On before, but I'm thinking this might be my first!

Simple Sewing was the first sewing book I picked up after I got my machine, but I haven't made very much from it yet. I made the napkins, which we use all the time, as my first project. I tried to make the sun hat, but I got mostly done and realized that it was somehow ending up way too small for my head (maybe my head is abnormaly large?), so that's hiding in a drawer somewhere now. And following that discouraging incident, the book was shelved. But flipping through it this morning I found a few things I'd like to try, so the book and I are friends again. Which is nice.

Blue dots, blue dots everywhere

Oh, the blue dots. You may recogize this fabric from the wallet post.




This was one of the first fabrics I purchased. I didn't have a specific project in mind and, being the novice that I was (am?), I had no idea how much fabric to buy.

So I bought three yards.

Yeah. That's a whole lot of blue dots.





It's kind of overwhelming in large doses--I feel like even the apron is a little much. So I've been working my way through it slowly.

The apron and zip-bag are both from Amy Karol's Bend the Rules Sewing, a total favorite.

Now I'm thinking potholders.