Well, long time no post. I have been busy sewing away, but I just haven't gotten around to photographing and writing very much lately. My poor little Solomon is getting nearer to the end of his days I think. He is having more and more troubles with his balance and with his paws. I am doing my best to keep him comfortable and happy, but that seems to involve more work and a lot of tears on my end. I find myself stopping what I am doing and taking time to give him an extra cuddle. Whatever I am making, writing, doing can wait. I don't ever want to feel like I didn't spend enough time with him. Anyway, enough talk about that (if I keep going I will turn into a blubbering mess!). Sewing has actually been a welcome distraction. It keeps my mind off worrying about the future, and keeps me present. Plus it also keeps Solomon in one spot - right at my toes. Onto the aprons. I was lucky enough to reconnect with an old junior high school buddy of mine and even better she is now a phenomenal nail technician. I am serious you guys, no one does nails like this lovely lady. I love going to see her because we are very like-minded and we always have a good visit. Anyway, when we started to chat about sewing, and my insane obsession with it, she started dropping hints about needing a new apron. You see, Conny (that's my friend) wears a really cute apron while she works to protect her clothes, but because she is such a petite little lady (and adorable by the way), it's hard for her to find an apron that fits. I was a little hesitant at first, because I have never really sewn for anyone but myself, but I decided to give it a go. She really liked her current apron, so I took some measurements and drafted my own pattern (If you really want to call it that, I mean it's just one piece with straps - hardly difficult).
Anyway, this was my first time with a lot of techniques. I have never done a bias binding on a garment (only on quilts), I've never made and attached ruffles, and I have never made fabric covered buttons. So needless to say, I learned a lot making this little number.
Look at that button! I'm pretty proud of how the buttons turned out, but it was dead easy. You buy this little kit (for about $5) and you just cut a circle of fabric, pop it on the little tool and snap the button together. I love how it adds a cute little detail.
I bought the fabric, thread, button kit and pre-made bias binding at Fabricland. I was hoping to find a stiff polka-dotted cotton, but for some reason there wasn't any, so I went with a softer cotton. To make it a bit more durable, I lined it with some cotton batiste from my stash. I think it turned out pretty nicely. When I was all finished, I tried it on, just to see what it would look like on a body, and that's when I noticed it. It was really small. I don't know why it didn't really occur to me the whole time I was working on it, but I must have measured something wrong, because this apron was tiny (it still fit me - perfect in length actually, but it didn't really offer the coverage I was going for). DOH! So back to the drawing board. I made a new pattern to make the apron wider and started over.
It was actually a good thing, cause I perfected a few techniques and made a couple of changes a long the way to make it that much better. Anyway, I have been debating about what to do with the smaller one, but I think I will give it to Conny too. She has an adorable little step-daughter who I think it will fit nicely. Then they can be twins when working on messy projects!
With being in BC, I haven't had a chance to give Conny her new apron(s), but I'll see her next week and give them to her then. Fingers crossed she likes it and it fits!