Guys' Aprons

After making the apron for my granddaughter, described in post for May 12, 2018, I wanted to make one for her little brother. I also wanted to make a matching one for his dad, a former fireman and now a fire safety inspector. I used the Abbey Lane apron pattern titled Sloppy Joes.

I used the fire engine fabric I'd bought at my guild's silent auction, post for yesterday May 14, 2018. This large scale print was in ⅓ yard and ½ yard lengths that were not the full WOF and, all along one side, the fabric had a misprinted white band. But I was determined to fussy cut as many of those engines as I could.

I finagled until I got pockets that pleased me. I managed to get a full engine on the my son-in-law's decorative chest pocket. My grandson's pocket was too small and only parts of an engine would fit. Instead I managed to get him the head of a dalmatian.

These are the scraps I had left after fussy cutting.

I even used that flawed white streak section as the inner pockets inserted between the apron top and apron bottom seam. Notice I had to seam the bottom of the Dad's apron but I used a flat-fell seam so it would be smooth on the inside.

My husband Frank is modeling the finished apron for my son-in-law, my grandson, and – what the heck – for my granddaughter.

A close up of the man's apron shows off the big old fashioned fire engine on the chest. There is a full fireman and a full dalmatian on the bottom even if I did have to run a flat-fell seam through the front of the fire engine it to get them.

Here is a closeup of the boy's apron. I was proud of myself that a got such a big hook and ladder truck and a fireman on the bottom section and I did not have to seam to get them!

I know, I know. Men love to play with fire. Well, maybe when his dad is outside grilling, my grandson will be dressed appropriately to follow in his footsteps.

Linking up to Let's Bee Social #227.

Purchases at Silent Auction

My guild's Silent Auction on Saturday was a lot of fun. Because our by-laws require that our new officers be installed in May, we had a brief, very brief meeting to meet that requirements. Our ladies waited patiently around the perimeter before the whistle was blown that they could begin shopping.

I started out slowly. First there was this 3 yard piece of fire engine fabric. Since my son-in-law is a former fireman and is now a fire safety inspector at Oklahoma University I needed to have it to make into something for him. Perhaps matching father and son aprons are in their future.

Then this were some short sections of a large scale fireman novelty print in a ½ yard and a ⅓ yard length not all total width of fabric. It will be a challenge to decide what to make out of this less than 1 yard combination of pieces but the jumbo effect was too striking to pass up.

I am usually timid about Kaffe Fasset rpints but once I made up a kit from them, I became a little less intimidated. These twenty-four Kaffe Fasset 10" squares had my name on them. As a partial layer cake, the yardage equivalent is slightly under 2 yards.

This race car print with the back and white check was cute; there was ¾ yard of it. Now that I have two grandsons I can certainly find a use for it. I know – how sexist of me!

This orange swirl was a bright blender and that funky footprint-ish print called to me. There was ¾ yard of the orange a  fat quarter of the funky.

OK. This was so wild and wacky I had to pick it up. There was ¾ yardage at ¾ WOF and about 1½ yard at ½ WOF. These discontinuous lengths of fabric totaled about 2 yards.

This collection had forty-two 10" squares and forty 2.5" strips, the equivalent of a layer cake and a jelly roll. A layer cake is roughly the equivalent of 2¾ yards and a jelly roll also about 2¾ yards.

The yardages on these solids varied and totaled approximately 6½ yards.

1½ yard:   Sage

¾ yard:     Blush Pink, Woodrose

⅝ yard:     Iris

⅓ yard:     Maize

¼ yard:     Lilac, Puce, Plum, Medium Pink, Candy Blue, Orchid, Copenhagen, Amethyst

⅛ yard:    Clay, Wheat, Snow

There were 50 of these 7⅞" squares, in three patterns, rolled compactly into this one cylinder, the equivalent of roughly 2 yards of fabric. In the photo, I peeled it back in three places to reveal the three fabric patterns: a black polka dot, a graphic in white/yellow/black/pale blue triangles, and a yellow/white/black diamonds. It is upholstery weight so I do not know what I am going to do with it, but it was too unique to pass up. I am considering a 7 x 7 abstract wall hanging. Hmm... what do I do with the two other squares? Aha! A pillow!

These three brights were bundled together and totaled 4 yards. I forgot to add a tape measure in the photo but the squares are ¾". It was my favorite fabric of the trio, but that squiggle spotted-dot trail fabric is pretty cute too. I will also be quite able to use that blender orange. 

I kept bidding against another woman for the astronaut fabric. This bundle of three totaled 3½ yards. The earth is 1½" diameter.

I saw these adorable Peter Rabbit panels with a Buy It Now tag for $1 and snapped it up. Each image is about 7" tall. I think any one of them would be adorable on a pocket or a vest.  These three panels are probably equivalent to ½ yard.

These are twelve snowman, three each of the four designs shown, 24 mini panels since the backs are printed separately. They are printed on a felt weight material, a separate front and a back image of each. They could be stuffed but I think they stand alone fine and would make lovely ornaments or be strung together for a two sided banner or garland. Using the backs by themselves would make a banner twice as long. Each snowman is about 8" high. Yardage estimate... perhaps 1 yard?

As I poked around I was curious what was in that black bag on the front corner of the table in front of the stage? That table held specialty items.

It was a Baby Lock serger with differential feed and I won the high bid at $22 dollars. I am pretty sure it is old and it is very doubtful that it has jet air feed threading, but it certainly will be an entry level trial to decide if my daughter really wants a serger as she thinks she might. Now I get to cart it out to Oklahoma in my suitcase. At least we are flying Southwest and the first two bags are free.

  

My husband and two other husbands helped out at the auction by transporting the ladies treasures to their cars. He spotted something he wanted. I got this black felt for his train layout, 4 yards worth (for $4).

Last but not least I won the bid on this collection of fifteen 12" squares, each a different bold cheerful print. I have no idea whatsoever what I will do with these, but they were so unique I desired them. I estimate their yardage as a array that was 3 wide and 5 high and therefore 60" or about 1¾ yards.

My husband asked innocently, "So how many yards of fabric so you think you bought?" His query made me curious enough to total it. 

3 + 1 + 2 + ¾ + ¾ + ¼ + 2 + 5½ + 6½ + 2
+ 4 + 3½ + ½ + 1 + 4 + 1¾ =  38.75

Off-hand, I think I would have guessed 15 yards; but, rounding up, I came to 39 yards! Wow – it adds up fast! But 4 yards of it was my husband's - a whopping 10%! My total spent was $82 and $22 of that was the serger. I did not do too badly. 

The only kicker for our guild is that almost all the shoppers were guild members. We had some customers from the general public but not a lot. Basically we were buying back each other's stuff at a fraction of what we had most likely paid originally. Realistically, I think that is often the sordid truth of most of fundraisers. But when "a good time was had by all" and when you are convinced you got a real bargain as well, you are happy.

Money for the Guild + Happy Quilters = a Formula for Success. 

Linking up to Let's Bee Social #227. 

Girl's Apron

Little girls who do art need an apron. Little girls who help their mom bake need an apron, also. Right? And that apron might as well be cute, too. I bought this Little Lady apron pattern by Abbey Lane Quilts at Road to California when I was there this past January. What was especially appealing was the three tiers of ruffles and the two hidden pockets. I chose to make the top and pocket inserts out of a pencil print and the bottom and ties out of pastel dots.

TOP
The top was meant to be a single layer and on the 5 out of 6 edges I was supposed to turn under ¼" then ⅜", then press, and then top stitch. Instead, since I had enough of the pencil fabric I chose to cut out two tops and use one as a facing. I still top stitched it the same way, ⅛" and ¼" from the edge.

POCKETS

I liked the way the pockets were added, one thickness to the front top and the other thickness to the skirt bottom, much the way side pockets are inserted in a skirt or set of slacks.

TIES

There were ties at the neck and ties at the sides. Oddly enough they were made differently. The neck ties were long strips that were folded over a ¼" along the long edges, folded in half and top stitched. But the side ties were sewed right sides together and then turned right side out. The side ties were longer so turning them did not make a lot of sense. They were mildly, very mildly, tapered though, so perhaps that is why the method changed. I have my handy-dandy turning tool. The fabric was a thin enough cotton and the ties were much wider than those doll limbs I have been doing of late, so that turning was fairly easy.

A ½" wide ruler did the trick for flattening each side tie out initially before pressing.

RUFFLES

Attaching the first ruffle to the top was tricky because it was complicated by the insertion of two pockets in the seam. The pockets are hidden and so I tucked in a magnifying glass to reveal the location of one, sort of symbolic of a detective sleuthing out the pouch's clandestine position. 

A closeup reveals how the pocket hangs a bit lower than the base of the first ruffle. The ruffle seam is ½" but the pockets seams are ¼".

Three ruffles share two bases and I am about to gather the third ruffle onto the second base.

After adding the gathered ruffle I sewed a stay stitching zig-zag on the seam and then pinked it.

Then I top stitched ⅛" above the ruffle on the right side. 

All these frills were a lot of work, especially for an apron. I should have invested the effort in making a dress; but then maybe it would not get worn as much and probably be outgrown sooner. These were the steps. 1) Sew ½" guideline onto base. 2) Sew gathering stitch on ruffle. 3) Gather ruffle and pin to base. 4) Stitch ruffle to base. 5) Stitch finishing zig zag on ruffle seam. 6) Trim seam. 7) Top stitch finished ruffle. That is seven passes on one seam! Multiply that by three ruffles. Whew!

FINAL ASSEMBLY

The ties were added at four corners on the top and then the apron was finished. Here is the right side.

Here is the back side. The ruffles do lie pretty smooth. I am glad I made a facing to cover the waist seam although I did have to manipulate it a bit and hand sew it in place to ensure the pockets remained accessible.

PATTERN REVIEW

The pattern was seven pages long, nine if you count the two 11"x17" size pages of the minimal curved templates. Rather than other pattern pieces, the non-curved "templates" took a verbal format similar to "Cut ___ number of pieces ___ inches high by __ inches long; then mark ___ inches on this edge and ___ inches on that edge and sew or cut across a slant." I could follow every step of this pattern though I felt it could have been finessed a bit more for consistency and terminology. Given a pattern piece, a letter reference is clearer than directions to sew the piece you just sewed to the one you just sewed before this one. Also the seam allowances were ¼", ½", and ⅝" (if you count adding ¼" and ⅜") instead of one unchanging dimension. This pattern is certainly doable but I would not recommend it for a beginner.

That being said... would I make this apron again? Yes, I would; but I will be wiser. How could I make only one when I have three granddaughters and the younger two are really avid bakers with their mom? My three year old grandson is about to get an apron next. I am glad that some sexist tendencies still live on in today's world; his will not need to have ruffles! (But it will have pockets.)

Awaiting Silent Auction

My guild friend Renée and I have been very busy bees sorting, smoothing, coordinating, bundling, and bid-tagging for Amador Valley Quilters silent auction next weekend May 12, 2018. She and I finished off the fabrics yesterday and I knocked out the needle crafts today.

We have ten bins packed and ready to go to the event. And we are only a portion of the small yardages and precuts contribution! Seven bins with white lids are from my personal storage system, one black lidded and one green lidded bin belong to the guild, and there is a cardboard box. 

These five bins with white lids are housed behind my couch and all contain lengths of fabrics less than one yard that have been folded and bundled into 6"x6"  by roughly 6" tall consistent cubic stacks.

The three bins on the left are full to capacity. And man, are they heavy!.

Here is a peek inside of the top one. Aah... As one who can relish the results of making order out of chaos, this tidy display makes my heart sing.

The insides of the other two on the left are similar – chock full of goodies.

On my dining room table are the other two white lidded bins, a green lidded bin, a black lidded bin and a cardboard box.

One of the white lidded bins contains smaller containers of precut squares and strips – thousands of them –  that will sell to give quilters an effort-saving head start on their scrap or community quilts.

The final white lidded bin contains a lot of brand new, never-even-taken-out-of-the-packaging fabrics which will sell at a greatly reduced price, many with buy it now tags instead of bidding.

The green lidded bin contains mainly flannel squares and strips, ideal for baby quilts. These mini-stacks are fanned out on cardboard trays to show them off  to advantage.

  

The black lidded bin contains mostly fat quarters bundled in blended tones, also on trays of cardboard.

Not to forget, there is also a cardboard box that is filled with needlecraft projects such as untouched stamped and counted cross stitch kits, crewel kits, a latch hook rug kit, embroidery flosses, and scissors.

And parked by my front door is a cart to help transport all these goodies to the multi-purpose room at Pleasant Middle School on the big shopping day. Looks like the cart matches my decor. The fabric sorting at my house has been going on since March. (Other guild member have been doing this for their area of assignment since February, when all the gathering of donations began.) The fabric was becoming so much a part of our decor, that my husband and I no longer noticed it. We just peeked around or over it to watch TV at night.

We've come a long way baby. For other "before" pictures check out my post for March 30, 2018.

We worked together like a dream team. Thanks Renée, Terry, and Susan. Susan was here a different day and so is not in the picture. I am the one on the right holding one of those ubiquitous bins. It was fun – most of the time! See? We are smiling!