A Down-and-Dirty Apron Tutorial
plus my former life as a crafty mama blogger, books about sewing, and a bright orange crispy not-at-all-a-recipe recipe to enjoy while sewing your apron
Did you know that today is National Sewing Machine Day!? Well, I didn’t either until a week or so ago. But because it seems my newsletter is becoming an ode to national social media holidays, I now know. And that means this week’s newsletter is all about sewing, and for a moment, we will go down a rabbit hole of my former life as a crafty mama blogger…
When I was pregnant with my firstborn, I became nearly obsessed with two blogs (the Substacks/Instagrams of the early 2000s; I know blogs still exist but at that time, they were pretty much it): Soulemama.com and Posy Gets Cozy (this one is still active!) It was these two lovely ladies who (from opposite Portland coasts - Soulemama was Portland, Maine and Posy was Portland, Oregon) led me into the world of handicrafts. Before this, I'd pshawed crafting as a fuddy-duddy waste of time.
But boy, I became mesmerized by crafting when I found Soulemama and Posy. I wanted to learn to knit, sew, make rugs and needlepoint, felt soap, and embroider. And over the course of a few years I learned to do it all. I became a bit of a mama crafting freak, even learning how to make my own butter, bagels, and various forms of nut milks. I had a blog also, now very defunct.
My actual sewing journey began just after my daughter was born; I begged my mom to teach me to sew. I had tried to teach myself, but I didn't know what the hell I was doing and broke my sad little sewing machine before I had a chance to sew one reasonable stitch.
Mimi to the rescue. My mom (Mimi) came to my home in Colorado, and she and I sat upstairs in my funky wallpapered sewing room, and she taught me how to use the sewing machine (I'd somehow fixed.) I had it in my mind that I would sew stuffed fabric birds as my first conquest. My vision was to sew and stuff some colorful birds, hot glue them to a giant branch I brought in from outside, and then hang it on the wall. The vision did, in fact, come to fruition. I wish I could find a photo of it, but it looked very similar to this:
Over time, the birds fell off, and after a couple of moves, I think I just tossed it (but I believe a few of the birds live on in an old box somewhere in our garage.)
In some ways, maybe that wasn’t the best idea as a first project. But it was challenging enough that I made tons of mistakes and learned and made many more and learned and got better and better at sewing. I was extremely determined. That said, I had a fear of patterns early on. What were those tissue paper megaliths inside of those little envelopes at Joannes? And how did one use the giant McCalls catalogs to figure out what to sew? But then, via the blogs of the day, I began to watch bloggers sewing from vintage patterns. And I became obsessed. I sought out patterns via eBay and thrift stores. I collected vintage patterns from the 1960s and ‘70s, sewing nightgowns, tank tops, shorts, pants, and skirts for my children. I could resurrect an old pattern, making little changes here and there to my liking. (btw-I just did a quick search and would someone purchase these vintage patterns, please?)
Sadly, as my children aged, I dialed back my sewing. And nowadays, with two teenagers who prefer not to wear “mama-made” clothes, I am relegated to hemming my daughter’s Hollister pants and fixing button holes. Sure, I could just make myself clothes, like so many other talented ladies are doing! But, these days, I'd rather go thrifting than manhandle my way through a pattern. Life's like that. We change. While I sometimes miss sewing, I don’t have as much time to spend cutting patterns and piecing pieces, and quite honestly, I just don’t have the desire to do it either. But I do still have a wee bit of crafty in me, so I still sometimes whip up one of my aprons inspired by the former Dottie Angel.
I've made many of these aprons. While Dottie used vintage pillowcases, I preferred the texture of thick linen and cotton vintage tablecloths (even non-vintage ones if they have the right design)—a few cute ones this way. So, I've put together a little tutorial for you. These aprons are easy to make. You just use the hem of the tablecloth and sew a rectangle, snazzy it up any way you like, and then add a long wrap-around strap.
*I know, I know…why aprons? Shouldn’t we fight the patriarchy? Sure, Sure, I’m all for fighting the patriarchy. But I still love wearing an apron. I think they’re a vibe and also very useful.
The down-and-dirty apron tutorial…
(this is for you ladies and gents who already know how to sew; if you don’t know how to sew, please see my listing of how-to books below or take a class at your local sewing shop and then use YouTube videos to help you along the way)
Begin with a pretty tablecloth that you don’t mind not using as a tablecloth anymore.
First, measure and cut the tablecloth. I like to cut mine so that I can keep the bottom edge of it as a hem (so I don’t need to sew a hem) as well as one side edge. Next, measure around your body to gauge how wide you want it; I made this one about 36 inches wide, and that allowed for some folding and sewing of the raw edge. Length-wise (measured from my waist to about my knees), I cut it at around 22 inches, which allowed me to create the top opening for the strap/tie; the finished apron ended up just about an inch or so above my knees (and that is perfect).
Next up is adding the strap. Now, I sometimes make my straps by cutting up pillowcases. I also use bias binding tape as the strap because it’s much easier than making your own strap from pillowcases. But if you want to make your own strap, here is a great tutorial for it. I like to make mine quite long (the one I made here was 110 inches long) to wrap it around the back and into the front. You also can just use a pretty bit of ribbon (that would be the easiest way of all.)
Finally, decorate your apron any way you choose. For the sake of time, I just added some lace to the bottom, but I might go in and do some embroidery and sew that on, too—as I think it needs a little contrast to all of that orange. Hopefully, you get the idea. Dottie Angel’s blog still has lots of pretty inspiration.
Books on Sewing
Sewing for Dummies is one of the many that helped me early on. However, I’d wait to purchase the new edition, which comes out in November.
I’ve heard good things about Simple Machine Sewing.
Bend the Rules Sewing - I sewed many of the projects in this book :))
Sweet & Simple Handmade (this one comes with tissue paper patterns) - lots of cute stuff for kids. I made a bunch of these things back in the day.
If you aren’t interested in sewing for children anymore, kind of like me, you can sew for your home! I sewed many of the projects in A Well-Crafted Home.
A Sewing Projects Log and Record Book is exactly what I wish I’d had when I was in my sewing heyday.
Not-Really-a-Recipe Recipe…
This week, we’re going to make a quick and easy snack that’s perfect to nosh on while sewing up your cute apron.
This Not-Really-a-Recipe recipe is brought to by my friend Mindy, who showed up with it at a little barbecue we were having in our backyard last year. I don’t know why, but she had brought a big cooler filled with all manners of food to our party. I didn’t and still don’t know if this is how she usually rolls into parties, but suddenly, she busted out a big container of carrots and celery and a Tupperware of this exact Ranch dip. And damn, if I didn’t sit right down at my own party and dig in. It was cold, crisp, refreshing. And I’ve thought about it ever since. (Strange, right? Something so simple as carrots and Ranch dip.)
First, we’re going to peel off the skin of a bunch of cold, crisp carrots. Although my mom always said we should keep the skin on carrots (here’s the reason why), I sometimes just want a cold, crisp, peeled carrot that doesn’t look kind of dirty. Call me crazy. So, let’s shave them down to their bright orangeyness and then slice them into nice little rods. Cut up a bunch so you have a big pile of carrot rods in your fridge to munch on throughout the week. (If you like celery, cut up some celery rods, too, while you’re at it.)
Next up—Hidden Valley Ranch Dip. Yes, the dip. Not the dressing. Ranch Dip. You’ll need one packet of the Hidden Valley Ranch Dip powder and 16 oz of sour cream. Yes, we’re going there. Mix them together in a medium-sized bowl.
Enjoy the snack any way you like. But try not to glomp a bunch of the dip onto the carrot rod. We’re going for a taste of the Ranch, not Ranch with a side of carrot.
And that’s it for today. Thanks so much for joining along! I hope I helped you with something this week - a snack, a book, an apron. If so, consider sending this to a friend. Thanks for reading! xxoo Nicolle