About a month ago I was lent a sewing machine!!!! Dave's mum lent it to me. She even lent me an afternoon of her time to teach me how to use it!
She brought the fabric and a pattern for me to make a little girl's pinafore dress. I figured it would take me two days to finish such a project, but we knocked it out after lunch just before I had to head to work! Kathy was patient with my slow use of scissors and my not so lead foot on the machine.
I was pretty pleased with my first project, and apparently Dave's niece likes it too
I'd been wanting a sewing machine for a while. I kept thinking about pillows, curtains, skirts..... Of course, once I had a sewing machine, I had no idea where to begin! I was still a beginner with this machine. The little dress had definitely educated me, but I wasn't exactly ready to start making designer dresses! After searching the internet for a bit I decided an apron would be a pretty a good place to start. I LOVE aprons. Granted, I already have 3, so I didn't really a need another. But, I figured I could always give it away.
I found a free apron pattern online and printed it out. Well, I printed the instructions out, I had to actually make the pattern using baking paper and the measurements from the instructions. At the bottom of the instructions, among the notes and variations, was the idea of a reversible apron. I though, how cool would that be? You could choose which design you felt like wearing!
I didn't have anyone really in mind when I went to the fabric store, but I fell in love with a couple of kiwiana designs: one black and white kiwi bird and one lime green background with blue pukeko birds. It seemed like a great contrast for a reversible project!
Fortunately, the saleslady added the cost of the fabric up for me before cutting the cloth (while wandering the shop I'd mentioned I was a beginner). I was a bit short on funds that week, so I would have felt like a total knob going over what I could afford! The lady then pointed out the cheaper (and plain) fabric behind me. I decided she was right, no point blowing my bank account if I was only going to screw up and need to start again! I opted for the cheapest "calico" (cream) cloth to start. I decided the bold red cloth would make a nice contrast.
I didn't have an actual plan in mind when I started.
The instructions told me to make a rectangular pocket, but that seemed kind of boring. After cutting out both sides of the pattern I was left with lovely curved sections that would make perfect little pockets. I decided two little red pockets would look better on the calico side than one big red rectangle.
The instructions didn't go into detail for making a reversible apron, but I knew I could sort it out (after all, I'd just had plenty of experience sewing seams on a small scale!) I was smart enough to realize that I would have to start with my pockets, or else I'd end up sewing though both aprons! LOL
I was super pleased with my first efforts!!!
I was particularly pleased with these pockets for two reasons:
- I'd followed the directions and made them stand alone pockets (meaning I sewed them together, turned them inside out to be a free floating pocket, and then sewed them on.....which seemed like a lot of work really)
- I had sewn a pretty respectable curve :)
The white pocket I made for the red apron was a contrasting rectangle. This time, however, I decided to skip sewing the pocket first and just sew a piece of fabric onto the apron. This pocket seemed to be just as secure as the little red pockets but required a touch less sewing (and less fabric, as there is now "back" to the pocket). ....Does any of that make sense?.....
I decided that a plain white pocket seemed pretty boring. I'd spent some time flipping through the machine book and had found an "appliqué" setting (used to sew patches with a zig zag stitch). I decided I'd try using this stitch to add some interest to the pocket.
I was pretty pleased with the result, especially since I didn't get an iron-on bonding stuff to make it stick in place first.
However, I did notice the slight puckering around the large heart and decided that I probably wouldn't be able to do it on a smaller scale, so I scrapped the little heart in the upper corner
Now the the pockets were all done, all I had to do was put it together! It wasn't a tough job and really wasn't that time consuming. However, I did have to make the ties. I'd decided early on that I was not using ribbon (that didn't sound very sturdy) and thought that having contrasting ties on each side of the apron would be cool. Sewing the ties wasn't that bad, but it did take a while to turn the long tubes of fabric inside out with a wooden spoon! LOL.
The whole project took me around 1.5 weeks, but really only 4-5 days working part time in the afternoons. I was SO stoked the night that I finished the project. I ran around the house wearing my apron on one side and then other. Then I made Dave take pictures.
I'm not really sure at what point I decided to make this apron for Kathy. I know it was pretty early into the project, because I quite enjoyed top stitching the red pockets for her. In fact, I enjoyed this project all the more knowing that I was giving it away. Not only did it seem like a good way to say "Thank You" for lending me her sewing machine (indefinitely), it would make a great mother's day gift!!! :) hahahaha, I also remember thinking, as I was sewing crooked seams, "the great things about mothers is that it doesn't matter what you give them, they are always happy to have something homemade......no matter how imperfect it is!" LOL.
Thank you Mum, for trusting me with your sewing machine!!!!
Oh, and in case you're wondering.....I sent my mom back in the USA flowers. I couldn't give mum such an awesome gift and not get mom anything! Turns out, mom got a great deal. I bought her live chrysanthemums, but she got a huge live Azalea!!!! (and it is huge, I saw it over skype).
