Bridal Shower

A friend of mine just got married. It was a quick engagement and so it was an even quicker bridal shower. As in I heard about it 5 days before. I couldn't attend, but was thrilled for her and still wanted to give her something. Between nap, and school schedules, and whatever else was on my calendar for those 5 days, I really had no time to shop. (I barely find time to  grocery shop.) So during the baby's nap, whipped her out an apron. Plus it was a second marriage for both so they hardly needed Pyrex. Anyway, hopefully an apron was an adequate present. Thank goodness for fabric storage. 

I had a really hard time taking a self portrait of me wearing it. 

Remember hostess aprons are my favorite.  

Lastly, I know what miss manners says about second weddings, but beyond what do you give for a gift for a second marriage.  I'm all about cash, but a bridal shower is about opening presents, not cards with cash.

Fluffy Apron

Once again, I've been meaning to sew this apron for about a year.  

 Last year when I made this apron, for my daughter, I also made one for my sister's daughter but it got lost in the mail, so I sent her that one.  I decided to make a really ruffly one to replace it. A few years ago for christmas one of my sister in laws made a christmas apron for Nan.  It was by far her favorite so I decided I would make her a general through out the year apron.  Except we moved and I didn't  But now I finally did.  It was pretty quick and easy, and my daughter loves it ruffly.

P.S. I always make the children's aprons neck strap too big.  I don't mean to but I definitely don't want it too small, their heads are big in proportion to their body, and I just can't help it.

preschool apron

About last week at this time I realized every year of elementary school my mother would send me to school with a potted plant or two depending on how many teachers I had.  Every year I gave my teachers a potted plant.  Which mean my son needed a christmas present for his teachers!  Ahh, what was I going to do?  My mom would have told me to go buy a potted plant, live flowers are pretty much her advice on everything.  But kill all live plants, so I couldn't in good conscious give J's teachers one.  Instead I made a hostess apron for them, because thats what I do.  My mom takes care of live plants, and I make aprons. I also didn't have time to go to the store so I had to figure out what I had on hand that would work.  This is all I could come up with. I like it.

Time was growing short, and I didn't have any other material that matched in a big enough piece, so instead of making a second for the assistant teacher I gave her this one. I'm super lame, I know.  But she is young and thin, so I figured she could work it.  I had two aprons with the same  material and I never ever wore this one except for the picture, so I did give her a new apron.  J also picked out hand soap for the teachers because he wanted to give them soap with the apron.  I don't know what is acceptable present, I didn't know if just hand soap worked?!

Christmas Hostess Apron

I know I already have all the seasonal aprons I need. But I never much liked full aprons, I just kept making them because I enjoy sewing. But then this summer when I made a half apron, I loved it, I wear it at least weekly. Who knows which one I wear more often.  So I wanted a fun christmas one, but I didn't want to buy new material so I had improvise. I love how it turned out. I want to wear it every day from here until christmas.

I want to use the main material because it almost looked cookie like but I didn't have a full fat quarter so I did a red strip of ruching to make it look better than a seam, I love the ruffle in the middle instead of the bottom. This opens up all new possiblities. I found out I NEED a pocket, the other day I was wearing my birthday apron and didn't have a place to store the camera.

Now I'm sure someone out there is wondering how useful is a hostess apron for actual cooking? I'm tall enough that I find it very useful, I only ever get my waist messy. Occasionally my pants when I grab a messy kid to wash up. So I just wear my apron up at my true waist (high waist things are fashionable right now, right?!) and I never get messy anymore. Plus I don't get hot. Not to mention I never remember to put the apron on first, so things are usually starting to spill and its much easier for me to just tie something around my waist then get an apron over my head with all my long hair.

Another Apron Craze

About a month ago I went on another apron craze.  I sewed this for my daughter.  She didn't have an apron, and always fought over her brother's with him.

Then I made this one, which is unisex (I think) for a child.

And come on, how could I not resist making another polka dot, cupcake apron. 

 I love these two materials, I guess there is actually three, oh wait four.

Birthday Baking/ Birthday Apron

I found this cute material, and wanted to make an apron for birthdays.  My daughter turns 2 in a month, and it be so great to wear my fun new apron.

Little Cupcake Apron

I love cupcakes, I love material, I especially love material with cupcakes on it, and since I'm also enjoy sewing aprons, I made my daughter an apron. We only have one child apron, and the kids fight over it now when we bake, so I whipped up another one.

My one and only sister

I'm really lucky to have a great sister and be friends with her, even though we didn't grow up together, (she is 9 years older than me, and graduated high school a whole decade before me). Unfortuantely she isn't so lucky, because she has a crafty sister who makes her homemade presents. First present, a half apron, I was in a big half apron mood this summer.

And then another baby blanket! She did not just deliever her baby, she is not pregnant, in the words of my father she needs another baby blanket like she needs a hole in her head. But I couldn't resisit.

Its strawberry shortcake!

Birthday Aprons

I made some aprons over the summer.
I used this tutorial, because the tutorial was so cute.  

I really loved this pink and brown baking material. Not to mention polka dots, who doesn't love polka dots?

Needed More

This apron needed more. The pocket was too yellow, it needed an embellishment. I decided to go with buttons, because I thought they would be fitting with the depression era colors in the material being. It looks so much better now, it my opinion.

Turns out half aprons can double as full aprons, for toddlers. My daughter requested to wear it.

Just involved some jimmy rigging of the back straps, and going around the shoulders instead of her neck.

She and her sticky hair look good.

 

Tah dah the finished product. Like I said much better with the buttons.

I made an apron yesterday.

I made an apron yesterday. I have been in need of a half apron, it is so hot when you bake in the summer who wants a full apron, but that being said, when I use flour I almost always get some on my waist. The tutorial was true to life it was super quick. I obviously being me made some modifications, I did not have a full half yard so I couldn't make my strap as long, not to mention the ruffle instead of the straight bottom, a pocket-- its nice to have some where to shove my camera after I snap a shot of my junior chef, and I tapered the apron, the top is slightly more narrow than the bottom, which is why it doesn't lay against my legs until like the photo in the tutorial.

 

The apron would suggest I love yellow, not the case.  I loved the fat quarter and the yellow was the only thing I had that matched.  I tried about every other material in my stores but had nothing quite matched other than the yellow. If I would have gone to the store I wouldn't have had time to make it yesterday.

Lime Green Apron

My brother just got married, for my newest sister in law's bridal shower I made a lime green apron.

The spoon was not included, because I was feeling poor after I got her a rolling pin, a pastry blender (that's a manual hand tool), cookie cutters, and cookie sheets, all the things to make sugar cookies. But the spoon pocket is included.

New and Improved

This is my favorite flower I made the other day, for my favorite apron. My birthday cupcake apron, hooray! Now my apron is new and improved. I love it.

I love the kelly green bias tape with the white rick rack it looks so dessert like to me. So here is another shot of it. In case you want a non blurry shot, here is one, oh wait that is blurry too, so here is yet another blurry shot. This apron is doomed of blurry shots, maybe I'll apron the apron and try for non blurry shot one day.

Halloween Sewing

Yesterday I had fun sewing.
I made a Halloween apron. I think this is the end of the Holiday Aprons. Hooray. I am very excited about this apron, I used my birthday money to buy the material. (Life as a MBA student's wife makes the budget tight.)

I think I'm done with my Holiday Aprons.
I have:

• Valentine's
• St. Patrick's
• Easter
• Birthdays
• Halloween
• Thanksgiving
• Christmas

My son had been asking for me to make his something. And he especially liked this Halloween material he picked it out last year after Halloween on 70% clearance. The last halloween bag I made him is still too huge for him. So I decided to make him one his size.

I'm not sure why I make my child such fancy things. He couldn't care less, he probably would have liked a simpler bag-- ie the straps. Plus its fully lined inside. He asked for his name to be sewn on the bag. (The yellow material makes it look even fancier, but I used that to make it easier to embroider his name, the white would have shown my stitches and it would have taken twice as long to try to hid them.)

I tried to mimic the bag on the print of the material. That's why it has so many handles. When I asked him what he thought of the back, I expected him to say, "Probably good", that is what he usually says. Instead I got an "I don't know" and a look away. Sad, for me and my pride.

Easter this time

This is the second to last holiday apron, come October I'll make a halloween and I'll be done. My son loved the pattern on this material. The flower is actually from my daughter's headband accessories, its on a clip and fully removable.

I am super happy with this apron, because it has a ruffle on the bottom. I'm in a big ruffle mood, I blame it on having a baby girl. I only learned how to make them last fall.

The pockets are purely decoration, but I could probably fit a hard boiled egg or two in them. They are suppose to minic the rabbit's ear pattern. I don't think I succeeded.

St Patty's Apron

I realize this post is a little late, but here is a continuation of my holiday aprons.

My kid thinks it funny to stand on my material/projects, he finds it equally funny to stand in front of pictures when he isn't suppose to be the subject. When he is suppose to be the subject he hides.

I liked anita's apron so much, I copied trim on this one.

Vee gifts

Long story, short, or not told at all. I decided it was high time to make my son the goldbug I've been planning to do for a year. You know goldbug, from Richard Scarry's Busytown.  I had no idea what I was doing when I started. I just randomly cut, and sewed. Then I unpicked, and sewed some more. His antennas have a pipe cleaner in them to give them shape. One leg is quite a bit longer than the other but that's what you get with homemade toys, made by me. Not to mention his head/face is lopsided. I was laughing about it to my husband, and he said that's ok that how he looks in the book.

I decided to give it to him as a Valentine present, because for one he already had enough birthday presents. And for two, I wanted to try my hand at making doll rattles for the girl. And I thought he would appreciate getting something handmade when she got something. She isn't quite old enough yet, but soon. They are kind of ugly, but it was a first attempt, without a pattern. Sadly enough I made the green one second, but yet its the worst. They match her baby quilt.

Then I felt bad, that my husband didn't have a valentines present and the kids did. Since he is quite literally my valentine (his birthday), I decided to just make something stupid and stuffed for him, like the kids got. Sadly, his present is made with scraps. But true nonetheless.

Lastly, I made myself a present, but I didn't wrap, mine up. A valentines apron. Once again, I didn't buy trim so I had to look at what I had, and what I had was left over pink satin quilt binding trim. So that's what won.

A holiday of homemade. I should take the handmade challenge for valentines I could accomplish that! J is going to think that February is just as excited as December. Cake, cookies, presents multiple days in a row. And snow! blah, that's the most depressing part of Valentine's Day. By the way, I do think Valentine's is a stupid holiday. But I do love the valentines candy, much better actually than Christmas candy. Other than the candy and cookies its good for nothing. I never once celebrated Valentine's Day with a boyfriend, I never even had a date on Valentines until I got married. But part of the fun of kids is doing fun things on all the holidays I think. Anyway. By the way, since my husband's birthday is on the 14th, we've always celebrated valentine's day on the 15th. Some may wonder why we even celebrate, after 4 years I do, seems like his birthday is the perfect excuse to ignore it. I think it has something to do with being newlyweds 4 years ago, and just be so excited to have a date on Valentine's Day. I really couldn't tell you why, I can't even remember why. Probably has to do, with I really wanted these kissing frogs from Hallmark, so my husband planned to buy them for me, but on Valentine's Day we got about 4 feet of snow, so even with skipping class, and only going to work, he spent the whole day other than work, and pie shoving the neighborhood. Ahh, to be young and in love, I doubt my husband would still go down to the hallmark store to pick up stuff animals, and I doubt I would even ask for them anymore.