Posted on 7 Comments

See you later, comfort zone

Late afternoon on the patio

Remember this apron I wanted to make?

New apron in progress

You may have seen this picture in my flickr photostream a few days ago. It was the fabric that I’d cut out to use on this apron. But it had two problems:

  1. The trim fabric and the cherry fabric just seemed to busy right up next to each other
  2. I cut out the pocket portion of the apron upside-down.

I needed to re-think this a bit, because I really wanted this to be my Summer apron. The one I already have in this Elsie’s Kitchen fabric is nice, but it’s full length, and I generally prefer the half ones. I had a lot of fabric pieces from this collection sitting around, but none big enough to allow me to re-cut the pocket in the right direction.

New apron

Here’s what I did:

  1. I took the back panel (which featured right-side up cherries), cut a few inches off of the top and made that be the pocket.
  2. I took two smaller pieces of red polka dot fabric from my stash, sewed them together to make a long strip, and attached that to the former pocket. The resulting piece became my back panel.

The upside-down cherries were no longer a concern because they’d be hidden behind the pocket. And, the red fabric would separate the two busy fabrics from each other.

New apron

I’m really pleased with the way this came out. It’s a brand new pattern for me and involved several things I hadn’t done before, including making gathers, using bias tape, and doing all of that funny business I described with the pocket.

New apron

If I make this again, I’ll lengthen the ties so that they can tie in the front. I’ll also probably skip the gathering step, since I don’t think it really adds anything essential to the look. I’ll also probably do the photo shoot when the children are otherwise occupied, so I don’t have to hear, “Mom, why are you taking pictures of your butt?” Boys!

New apron

This project came from the A is for Aprons book, which I highly recommend. It’s full of fun, up-to-date styles and projects. I did have to step outside of my comfort zone to make this, and as such it took longer than my usual projects. Still, I think it was time well spent. I’ve learned a few things, I really like the results, and now I have a nice half-apron to go with my Summer napkins. I can feel free to commence cookie-baking at any moment. Or maybe just make a supper this weekend that didn’t originate from a box or the freezer 😉

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Posted on 7 Comments

7 thoughts on “See you later, comfort zone

  1. It’s so cute Lisa, and I love your buttons!

    1. Thank you! I love being able to make buttons to match everything – very handy skill to have 😉

  2. way to work around the upside down cherries! Looks great

    1. I have been wearing it every day and am really enjoying it. Don’t think I would have been able to get past the upside-down cherries if I’d left them that way!

  3. Great apron … commence cookie baking!! 😉

    1. Thanks! And would you believe I still haven’t made any cookies? I did make strawberry smoothies, though, so that’s something… 😉

  4. […] window and swirling playfully around the kitchen, I put some Madeleine Peyroux on Pandora, pulled my cherry-covered apron out of the drawer, and whipped up a batch of homemade Pop Tarts for the men in my […]

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