Back in the fall, I had someone ask me to make an apron as a Christmas gift. Now, I love aprons and the purpose they serve but I was asked to make a reproduction vintage apron from the 1950's. Guess what? I had never sewn an apron before the request was made. I thought how much different from a purse could this be! lol...

Ok so I bought a pattern and all the supplies for a test apron. That one bombed on me but I found the mistakes and learned how to correct them on the real apron for the customer. I made this for her giftee:

This baby took more than 2 yards of fabric, tons of ironing and about 9 yards of 1/4 inch bias tape. I will never work with bias tape that small again on this scale.

But this pattern included several apron patterns and I decided I needed my own apron. I already own a few but they are blue and basic. I just wanted something that was tailored to me. I do own 2 of my grandmother's vintage aprons but they are too small for me.

Sigh.

I dug through my stash of fabrics and found the fabric shower curtain I bought at Goodwill back in the summer for $1.00. This was a thicker fabric, sturdier than cottons for quilting but totally washable. I bought it to make a few make-up bags with zippers. Those never materialized but I knew the fabric was going to come in handy. So I used one of the other apron designs in the package and made this fun and simple apron. I did use 1/4 inch bias tape but it was only for the edging, not for joining seams like in the first apron.

I love the little piggies and all the fun scenes in this fabric. Let me say that I wear this thing a whole lot around the house. It keeps me dry when I wash dishes. I am one of the last remaining folks who does not own an electric dishwasher.
Sigh.
Today I wore it to make yet another loaf of my homemade Rosemary-Parmesan focaccia bread to go with our dinner of pasta with sausage and vodka sauce. Yum! I simply love this apron. I hope to find another pretty shower curtain to make more aprons because I wash this one every couple of days. It would be nice to have a few more in different prints.

I found this red fabric at a sidewalk sale at a local discount store. It was about 1/2 a yard of brocade for only $.10!!! I snatched it up and put it in my stash for a future project. It's hard for me to decide what fabric to use on different projects. All along I thought that red brocade would become a clutch of some sort but I realized that was not going to happen. Clutch purses are not my thing. So I found this pattern, the April bag, on Sew Mama Sew last year but never could figure out what fabric to use.

Fast forward to January 2010 and I have just started to take about my wedding dress to use the fabric. It's not satin but more of a jacquard fabric and it's a cream color. I wanted to make things from this fabric to give to my girls as keepsakes. But I also wanted something for me. I decided the cream and the red brocade looked great together and got to work. Here is the finished product!


This bag measures about 15 inches long X 13 inches wide. This is truly a bag that took only about 1 hour, very little ironing and cutting. The only interfacing needed was for the handles. Even that was pieced together from scraps since these handles are one big loop. I always do my straps a bit different. I double the amount called for, iron in half then fold the outside to the center fold, and top stitch down both sides. No turning tiny tubes of fabric and my straps are very durable.

You can see the cream lining the purse. I have received so many compliments on this bag. I am proud to show it off.