The Long-Forgotten Workhorse...The Apron

When I was a little girl, I fondly remember my grandma always wearing an apron over her house dress. She never drove a car that I remembered, so when someone offered to take her shopping or anywhere else, I recall she always said, "Let me take off my apron and take an aspirin." The aspirin, I guess, was in anticipation of an adventure; the apron was symbolic of her keeping her house a home. From that time on, I've had a soft spot for aprons.


Aprons have always been the workhorse of the home. They covered hard-to-come-by clothing; people didn't always run out and buy a pile of clothes, but rather took great care of a small wardrobe. 


Aprons were designated for the kitchen for cooking, canning, and baking;

designed for housekeeping with extra deep pockets for just about anything...

Aprons can bring an elegant touch to the kitchen during special times...

And always add a feminine touch...

I do love aprons; they make sense and they make me smile.

The First Project Out of the Gate--Almost the Last

Leave it to me to take on a project that's over my head in the first round of sewing after getting reacquainted with the whole ball of wax. I was looking on line at a pattern site and came across a retro dress that I immediately fell for hook, line, and sinker. It was a Vintage Vogue 1956 and had every good quality that a dress of that era possesses.

Off to the fabric shop I went to look for the perfect material for the dress. I took my mom along for moral support and guidance--not that I followed it. My eye was entranced by a beautiful splashy pattern--in the slickest, slidingest material ever made. It took both my mom and me to cut out the pattern; one to cut and one to hold the material on the cutting table. We had various pieces weighted down with books all over the large table, in fact. It was quite a sight.


Sewing the pieces together was just as much of a challenge. Stitch and slide; stitch and slide. We finally made it through the large front section, the massive 15 foot circumference skirt, the low-cut back, the insert at the back. Everything was pretty much a success, except for the bodice sides, unique to this era of dress styles. We turned, twisted, flipped, ease stitched--you name it, we tried it. We called in outside seamstresses. We all stood with puzzled expressions and never quite got it; as a result, we finally decided to top-stitch in the offending pieces. The first attempt was now complete.

Later as the fall season approached, I once again looked to the pattern and decided to accept the challenge of the Vintage Vogue 1956 model--this time with long sleeves. I selected a heavy cotton polka-dot pattern--no slippage this time.  I also purchased a dress form in the meantime which meant I'd have a 3-D view and perspective. This made a world of difference as I approached the challenge of the bodice sides. This time they fit right in and perfectly. Mission accomplished! 

Learning to Sew All Over Again

I became friends again with my sewing machine over the past couple of years; before that, it sat quietly in a closet in the laundry room, just waiting for its chance to become a beloved machine once again.
In the early years after I received the machine as a gift from my excellent seamstress mom and encourager dad, I set out on many an occasion to emulate the styles that graced the covers of various patterns I purchased. Each time I would start with enthusiasm only to run out of patience about mid-way through the project. So, to the closet the machine went to wait out my lack of interest and patience.

And that day came.

A couple of years ago, I pulled the machine out the closet, took it to a special area of the basement, set it up, plugged it in, and clicked on the light. As I looked over the various parts of the machine, it all came back to me--how to fill the bobbin, how to thread the machine, how to cut out a pattern. And it went beautifully from there; the love of sewing had arrived and the needed patience with it.

I'll be sharing my creations with you in this blog; hope you enjoy seeing what I've come up with, hearing about my goofs along the way, and also maybe finding some useful tips I discover along the way advantageous to your own sewing endeavors.

My heart belongs to the styles ranging the 25 years from 1940-1965. Most sewing projects will fall into this range. Occasionally a newer retro item will show up; that's what makes the whole process so much fun.

Hope you'll join me along the path of seams that leads to discovery of retro threads.