>Fabric storage

>I was reading this post on bura ellen which led me to this post on the happy zombie which is all about straightening up fabric stashes. I thought some of my readers might like these tips, so I thought I would pass them along to you all. Follow the two links above to find out more.

>Day 13 of an apron a day….

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More of those aprons that are made from what seems to be shower curtain material. This one has a little age damage, but I am amazed that none of the plastic on any of these aprons is brittle; they are very soft, still. Made from three pieces of material, this is a utilitarian apron that tries to be cute with little fishes swimming on it and a ruffle.

This one is also a store bought apron same vintage as the last one, I would guess.
I think it is from the 1950- 1960’s, probably more a 1960’s apron, but not really sure because I have never seen plastic aprons other than the ones in this set.

>Where to find Vintage apron patterns

>In the process of trying to date GGH aprons I have been looking on line at vintage patterns for sale. Here is a link I think people will like if they are looking to buy vintage patterns.
sovintagepatterns.com
decadesofstyle.com

This has nothing to do with aprons per se, but this site has some cool sewing accouterments
kelmscottdesigns.com

>Progress on kids and my crochet lace

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One of my kids has finished her ball of thread — the one doing finger crochet. I have finished mine and decided I wanted more lace, so I added another ball and I am continuing to crochet lace. The oldest hasn’t finished her ball yet, but she is steadily working on it. My middle daughter seems to have hit a wall and hasn’t progressed much. However, that is normal for her; she usually is a little more timid on picking up new skills. In time, she will go gangbusters on it when she is more comfortable with it all. But I may switch her over to tatting before she gets this because tatting may be a little easier for her to manipulate. I know that sounds odd, but it’s true. Tatting is actually easier than most people think, especially if you start with chains and not rings, make a yard of chain, then make a foot of chain with picots, then switch to rings, and then join; then you have it.

>Day 12 of an apron a day….

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This is another half apron that is meant to be a hostess apron with a touch of sheer. I like this a lot because it isn’t all sheer and I like the nice line of the hem, too. Made from seven pieces: 3 sheer, 4 solid and rick rack trim.

This is probably a 1950’s apron.

>Day 11 of an apron a day….

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Polka dots! This apron is as popular in fashion today as it was when made. Polka dots are in vogue. It is easy to see this is a half apron that ties around the waist and no pockets. It is made of five pieces of fabric and rick rack trim. This is a very simple hostess apron; no sheers here. I really like the pointed waist band and the division of the apron with the two fabrics. This would make a great Valentine’s, Christmas, or even the Fourth of July apron.

I believe this apron is from the late 1950’s to the very early 1960’s.

>Day 10 of an apron a day….

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This is a lovely embroidered apron, another one of my favorites. You may notice that the carpets in the back ground are different. The first photos I took at my MIL’s house, and they have blueish gray carpet; any in my house are on a cream carpet. This is an over-the-head type apron with no ties and made from three pieces of fabric. Very simple to construct. The embroidery on this one is more simple, too, but very nicely done.

We are trying to date these; so far I think this one is 1910- 1920 because of the style of apron. Probably late 1920’s close to 1930; I have seen a similar pattern dated 1928.

>Day 9 of an apron a day….

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There are a few aprons in the collection similar in fabric as this one. It feels like it is made out of thin shower curtains. This would make a very good apron for washing dishes because it is plastic and would repel the water instead of letting it soak in in time. I don’t know if I want to make one out of this type of fabric, but I think it was very smart in a time and era when people washed all dishes by hand. Great grandma never had a dishwasher, she always washed by hand. That was always the kids’ chore to do when we would go visit (the kids being my generation, not my kids). This is made from three pieces of plastic and was store bought.

I think it is from the 1950- 1960’s; probably more a 1960’s apron, but not really sure because I have never seen plastic aprons other than the ones in this set.

>What little hands can do

>Decided to update earlier than Wednesday.

So, all three have tried their hands at crochet, and they had me make a piece of lace, too. They didn’t want to be alone in their endeavor, so I made a piece of lace and will continue ’till my ball of thread is gone. I have a habit of doing this; if I make lace for fun, I have to use the whole ball. As to why, I do not know.

Results: we will go from oldest to youngest, I guess this includes me. I made yardage lace using size 10 thread and a 6 hook (same thread size, color and hook the 10 and 8 year old used). Bad light in the next two photos; the ones of my oldest daughter is closer to the actual color of the thread.

The pattern I used can be found here if you want to make it, too. If you use tiny thread like size 20 and smaller, makes a lovely bookmark like she shows or a real nice, delicate lace. But if you use size 10 thread, it makes a nice heavy-weight lace suitable for clothing and linens such as pillows and sheets and table cloths. If you use yarn, a lovely scarf. I have over 3 1/2 yards already made of this lace, which is the sum of one ball, but I plan on making it longer.

The oldest daughter’s pattern came from Leisure Arts Book 111, easy crochet edgings number 8 in the book.

The middle daughter’s pattern came out of my head and is posted here.

The youngest tried to make lace like the oldest, then we switched hook sizes and yarn sizes to no avail. She is ambidextrous so she kept switching which hand the hook was in because she figured it would feel better in one of the two. The problem with being ambidextrous is that if something is new and awkward, she tries it in both hands and doesn’t get comfortable with just one hand. We had this issue all school year with her writing; she would not pick a hand, so she kept bouncing between the two, making for messy handwriting because neither hand is very skilled at it. This led her to a few tears because she wasn’t sure why her sisters could get comfortable and not her. So I decided no implements in her hands would be best. Yep, finger crocheting miles and miles of chain. She is very proud of herself because in less than thirty minutes her chain was longer than oldest sister’s lace and middle sister’s strip and even longer than Mae’s lace. So she went from tears to boasting about how fast she was with just her hands where everyone else had to have something else, but not her. I didn’t notice that when I took the photo her hand was in the back ground; fitting since she is the one doing finger crochet.

Like I said, they all can do it; just have to find the right tool, pattern, yarn and so forth. In this case, chubby fingers, chains, and cotton yarn.

>Day 8 of an apron a day….

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This is a very well worn out apron that has had lots of daily use and abuse. This is a nice full-coverage apron worn over the head and tied at the waist. This apron is made out of five pieces of fabric, not counting the bias. This is the type of apron a woman would wear in the 1940-1950’s to keep her clothes all clean while going about her daily routine of cleaning.

I believe this apron is more from the 1940’s from the fabric.

Side note: Wouldn’t this be cute with black fabric with pink polka dots and pink gingham accents. OK, I am weird.