Reversible Apron for Exhibition

Back in early December, I got out some seersucker I had bought when Niamh and Veronica were much younger, with a view to making smocked nightdresses. I wanted seersucker because it doesn't require ironing, and stripes because I could use them to guide my smocking, instead of pleating. Unfortunately, the girls were less than enthusiastic at the time, so I abandoned the idea, leaving me with rather a lot of fabric.  

I revisited the fabric after our December WES session on smocking, and came up with the idea of an apron, using the stripes for embroidery rather than smocking.

I dug out an apron that I bought as a pattern - Japanese style wrap-around with wide cross-over straps at the back ( It had been easier and cheaper to buy an apron online than a pattern in Adelaide!) and cut it out. I cut out two, with a view to lining it and making it reversible. I figured the seersucker was a bit thin for an apron. If it is protecting clothes it's better that spills don't simply go through to the clothes below.

My idea was to work the front section like a sampler, using white thread only, to get a counter-change effect. I began in the centre and got most of the way across before I needed to look up some more stitches, for which I used Enthoven.

I created a very deep V, all the way to where I planned to put a pocket.

Then, of course, I had to mirror that on the other side - and be able to work out the stitches I had used!

I changed threads a bit, beginning with cotton-a-broder, but moving quickly to perle 5 cotton, then to a cordonnet when the cotton ran out. It was quite a thread-hungry exercise!

Originally I intended to only embroider one side, but decided to embroider the second side in pink to get the counterchange contrast. I didn't have an exact match for the pink. Before I set out to buy a matching thread, I tried a variegated perle I had, and thought it would make an interesting contrast. To avoid contrast overload, I settled on a single stitch - long-armed cross-stitch. I also made the columns of stitches less steep for a broader, more solid effect.

I am fascinated by the way the look of the fabric changes when one colour is covered with thread.

I worked matching pockets, reversing the shape direction.

Today I put it together. Adding the pockets was straightforward - stripes help with alignment. It took a bit of manipulating to put the two sides together to enable reversing.  I finally left one end of each strap loose  and inserted them at the end.

They are not very glamorous photos. I had to keep trying it on to ensure I had the construction right.  I haven't yet ironed it (since the point of seersucker was to avoid ironing it seems contradictory - but I will iron it before entering it in the Exhibition).

I acknowledge it won't be the easiest thing to hang in an exhibition.

I also admit it isn't setting me on fire as a design, but it will be a useful apron. I have plenty of aprons myself, so all I need now is someone who needs/wants it!

10 Bag Days

After the success of my Christmas fabric bags, I remembered that I had also purchased 2 other tubs of fabric offcuts from the Guild trading table - one of green coloured fabric, and one of checks and tartans.

As the year drew to an end,  I   rolled my eyes and wondered if, on a bag roll, I could use the fabric up before 2023.  The attraction of one tub had been the pieces of gingham it contained. I enjoy embroidering gingham, so set those pieces aside - to maybe make gingham lace (chicken scratch) aprons, table cloths or, yes, bags. 

The remaining tartans, and the greens were of various sizes and shapes. I got to work with my scissors and cut all of them into bags - 125 of them. 

Madwoman.

Amongst the green collection was a  piece of patchwork (top left) just waiting to be turned into a bag. It also reminded me that I could turn any left-over strips of fabric into patchwork. The lower two photos are the result. The one on the right is quite large - around 40cmx60cm.

As the pieces were probably the remnants of quilting projects, a few were odd shapes.  Bags don't need to be standard.

Unlike the Christmas fabric, which was in significant lengths, these greens and tartans were smaller and more varied. Only a couple of the resulting bags are large. The majority are medium sized and there are probably around 25 that are quite small - jewellery size.

I worked them as a production line for one worker. I cut them all out into the most efficient sized bag . The next day I ironed them all - ironing in the seams and hems. It took several days to machine them into bags. I stitched about  15 bags in an hour to an hour and a  half. I worked them in batches of around that number.

Once I had about 50 bags, I spent an hour or so choosing drawstrings from my ribbon and cord stash. I was in danger of running out, but Katherine came to my rescue with her substantial ribbon stash, which is now severely depleted.

Before long I had a pile of bags waiting for stops to be put on the end of the cords, a pile waiting for the cords to be threaded and a pile waiting to be machined, giving me a choice of activity each day. 

This kept me busy for 10 days - with breaks for reading, shopping, washing, catching up with friends and family, or taking photos. 

I didn't quite make my 2022 finishing goal. I wasn't tempted to push the envelope. It's been a good holiday activity. I enjoy it - and the end was in sight. 

I put the final touches on today - and did a bit of reorganising to clear a big red storage tub, which now holds the 125 bags - quite a good supply. Except for the gingham. all the trading table fabric is used up. 

Now I need to resist the temptation to buy any further bargain fabric from the Guild's trading table. After all, I still have drawers of my own left-over fabrics, without buying someone else's! 

I enjoy making bags, I like recycling and family are very welcome to any bags I have in store.  

Now it's back to my knitting. Oh, and there's the gingham......