1920s Vintage Apron Pattern

To confess, I comb through the ebay and etsy vintage patterns continually throughout the week. Not so much for something just to add to my pattern box, but for patterns that really stand out as unique and for something that I'd actually wear. Once a friend asked me about my sewing projects and I said yes, that way if no one else is interested, then I get to keep them all. :)

In the last couple of years I've been quite bored with what I'm seeing available for vintage apron patterns, but earlier this spring my heart fluttered at two that I had never seen before. Sadly, one got away before I could pay for it, but I was more than happy to purchase this one!

It's from a no-name company and one that I should do some more research on. Wonder what other treasures they produced nearly 100 years ago. But this pattern? Ladies, it has sleeves!  I can't tell you how many times I've been asked if I could make and sell aprons with sleeves. Thinking of my other apron patterns and modern patterns from the Big Four companies, no one puts sleeves on their aprons. But, why not?

It kind of makes sense if you think about it. The other practical thing about this apron? The back of the apron catches all the splatters when your back is turned from the stove.

 

On this particular apron I was happy to find two huge buttons from my stash for the back. I'm kind of lazy when it comes to knowledge about what my buttons are made of, but I'm guessing some kind of really high quality plastic like material. They are not light and flimsy, but then they aren't heavy like glass, or mother of pearl. 

The backs of these button are metal, however, which told me right away that they are vintage. The buttons are not functional to this particular apron, but if I make more aprons from this pattern in heavy fabrics, they'll most likely be working buttons. The pattern says you can do either or. Those are my kind of patterns; do what you feel like doing. :)

But here she is. All finished with one more confession: I had to slip it on before taking pictures, and it's a keeper of a pattern.

A Happy Thing

It's already that time of year where I start planning ahead for the fall semester; it is less than a month away from now, after all, and I've been doing some online ordering for various things. Without fail, I look for the cheapest price with the cheapest shipping.

Sometimes I'll even e-mail a seller on eBay and ask for a cheaper price, like an Anthropologie rain coat. (Woohoo!) Other times they won't budge, which I can understand. But what turns me off sooner than anything is charging a ridiculous amount for shipping, like when I know that shipping a pattern won't cost $5 when I can send them out for $3 less.

Rant over. You wonder about my blog post title, then? Well, I decided to do a little happy thing over in my etsy shop and offer free shipping this weekend. Use the coupon code SHIPFREE with any size order in the US through this Saturday!

Morning Light on Monday

Graham Thomas

Morning in my sewing room is always a lovely time. The window picks up some of the eastern rays, and with the walls already a buttery yellow you can't help but notice it's welcoming warmth.

Looking forward to a few vacation days this week to spend some time with these fun patterns! But first, there is an apron to make in a cute pink rosebud fabric. I just haven't decided yet which pattern to make it in.

In Season, Out of Season

It was a few years back that a mom of one of my violin student's gave me a young off-shoot from her gooseberry bush. I never knew they existed outside of books until one afternoon she had me over for a visit and served me a slice of her gooseberry pie. The next year when they had a bumper crop, she gave me a gallon sized bag full of berries. There was no complaining from me! :) For a couple of years now I've watched and waited for mine to produce fruit. Last year it only attracted some kind of plant-eating bug, which I was able to conquer after heavy spraying with some organic stuff I found at the local greenhouse.

This year it has finally produced fruit and no bugs. Yay! :) For weeks they've been as green as gourds, but much to my delight they're starting to turn color in the last day or two. Since it's a small crop, I'm picking them as they ripen and then stick them in the freezer. When it's all said and done for the year, there should be enough for one pie. Again, I'm not complaining seeing how I'm the only one in my family that likes gooseberries. Well, other than our dog, but she won't get more than a bite. Or two.

The blackberry bush is in full bloom, with a few berries starting to grow. Last year I think a squirrel ate the precious few, so this year I'm going to watch it like a hawk.

They never touch the raspberries, and it looks like we'll get our usual early crop, and then a heavy crop before the frost.

My little blueberry bush needs some help. It hasn't grown at all in the last 3-4 years, but is still alive and has maybe 10 berries on it. Do any of my readers have knowledge or skill in blueberries?

Summer's Beauty

"Fast fading violets cover'd up in leaves;
And mid-May's eldest child,
The coming musk-rose, full of dewy wine,
The murmurous haunt of flies on summer eves." ―Keats

Crown Princess Margareta

"What is one to say about June, the time of perfect young summer, the fulfillment of the promise of the earlier months, and with as yet no sign to remind one that its fresh young beauty will ever fade." ―Gertrude Jekyll

Winchester Catherdral

"My garden all is overblown with roses,
My spirit all is overblown with rhyme,
As like a drunken honeybee I waver
From house to garden and again to house
And, undetermined which delight to favor
On verse and rose alternately carouse." ―Vita Sackville-West, Sonnet

The rose bush with no name, but I know it's a hybrid. It was rescued from the dumpster about 12 years ago and a complete stranger offered it to me at my place of employment back then.

"Where you tend a rose, my lad, a thistle cannot grow." ―Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden

  Raindrops on Carding Mill

 "All twinkling with the dewdrops sheen the briar-rose falls in streamer's green." ―Scott

Carding Mill

“I read in a book once that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, but I've never been able to believe it. I don't believe a rose would be as nice if it was called a thistle or a skunk cabbage.” ― L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables 

Teasing Georgia

"And because the breath of flowers is sweeter in the air (where it comes and goes like the warbling of music) than in the hand, therefore nothing is more fit for that delight than to know what be the flowers and plants that do best perfume the air." ―Francis Bacon