A Sweet Apron

As I spend hours, washing, mending and ironing all these aprons, I can't help but think about the women who made them.  Almost all of them are homemade.  The women who made them had varying skill levels.  You can tell the ones that were quite expertly made and the ones made by beginning sewers.  Some of them are quite fancy, others very plain.  They all have a story to tell.

With all the aprons to choose from, I have kept very few.  There were a couple I recognized as mine.  My mother made them for me when I took home ec in the 7th grade and we all had to have two aprons.  Those I saved since my mother made them for me.  There is one from the 1920's or 30's that I love.  If I ever get skinny, I will wear it like a pinafore over a plain white dress.  It is so delicate.  A couple I have saved for the fabric to make doll clothes.  Then there is this one.

This apron is so delicate and pretty.  Really, it is quite simple.  Just what I think is a barred lawn printed with delicate little pink and green flowers.  But it tells quite a story.  The waistband is pieced, as is the pocket.  Obviously whoever made it didn't have much in the way of fabric, but used what she had.  There is even a mend in the center front.  It was a decorative apron I think, with all that lace whipped by hand around the edges.  The simple scalloped hem.  It's all very neatly made.  I just wish I knew it's story.

~Jane

Wordless Wednesday

Coming to an Etsy shop near you!

 

 

~Jane

Saturday

Today I was able to just stay home and putter around the house for the most part.  It is so seldom that I get a day at home anymore, I hardly know what to do.  Upon writing those words, I realized I started the morning by going for bloodwork at the doctor and then a trip to Target, but once home I stayed home. 

My daughter is beginning to think of potty training, so I finished up three waterproof trainers for my grandson.  They are three different versions/combinations of materials, so she can figure out which works best for them.  I checked out the waterproof ones at Target and they were horrible with a very noisy vinyl on the outside.  These have waterproof knit PUL on the outside and are so much nicer.  They sure are a pain to sew on my machine though.

The other thing I did today was lots of apron ironing.  These are ready to go to my daughter's for inclusion in her Etsy shop.  I still have a few to wash and a few more to iron. 

I finished the buttonholes in my Schoenhut doll's underwaist with attached petticoat while watching "The Social Network" tonight.  All it needs is a little featherstitching around the hem.  All-in-all a pretty productive Saturday.


~Jane 

Aprons!

I know I've written several times about sorting through my mother's things.  She passed away a year ago last February.  She just had tons of stuff to go through and my daughter and I are still sorting through boxes of things we've never seen.  We probably have about 40 or 50 boxes left to go.  We're trying to get ready for a garage sale in early September.

One of the things that my mother collected was aprons.  Mainly organdy half aprons.  I know they were a regular seller in her antiques space and, during the eight months she was hospitalized or in a rehab center, I ironed and sold quite a few while keeping her space going and stocked with inventory.  At last summer's garage sales, we sold a lot of aprons.  Quite a few armfuls of them.  After the garage sale, my daughter and I couldn't bear to sell the rest of them at garage sale prices, so we started washing and ironing them, doing the few little mends required, and selling them on her Etsy site.  I generally wash, mend, and iron, and my daughter photographs, lists, and sends out the sold ones.  It is a pretty fair division of labor.

We've sold about 35 of them on-line, and at least another 30 at the garage sale. There are about 20 listed right now, and a bunch of them waiting for either pictures or the right season to list. I delivered most of what I had left to my daughter this afternoon. I only had these few to iron, maybe a few more in some of the boxes that I've brought home but not sorted yet.  But I was finally feeling that maybe the end was in sight.

Then we started sorting through boxes today.  It turns out a lot of the boxes today held inventory from my mom's antique space.  My brother had boxed everything up when we closed her space.  It included all the aprons I had ironed for her shop.  Plus, we went through other boxes and found more aprons.  So instead of just a couple, I've got about 40 more to wash and iron.  And, don't forget we also have about 50 additional boxes to sort through.  If you're interested in vintage aprons, keep checking our Etsy website.  We're continually listing new ones.  

~Jane

Selling Things

My daughter has had an Etsy web store for a couple years now.  She started out selling baby things she'd made:  cloth blocks, appliqued onsies, knit baby hats and washcloths.  Then my mom passed away and we started selling aprons on the website.  She's been busy listing and selling them.  Then she got the idea to use some of my mother's large collection of buttons to make bookmarks and hair clips.  Now I've got her selling off some of my mother's fabric stash.  I think I've taken over her shop.

This whole website store thing is interesting.  It draws me to it like nothing else.  Several times a day I have to go and check to see whether anything has sold.  Most of the time it is "Rats, same 71 sales."  Then suddenly the sales number will go up and I have to quickly check to see what sold.  At that point, I usually call my daughter "Hey, you had a sale!"  Then the waiting game starts again.  I think I'm addicted!  :)

Check out Elsie's Etsy shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop/littlesproutbasics.

~Jane

Saturday - Catching Up

This has been a productive week, although I never seem to get as much done as I want to.  Work has been slow, so I've had a chance to work on my Tasha Tudor counted cross-stitch.  I finished the gray goose this week.  One of my co-workers said there is a vodka by the name of Gray Goose and it sounded like I'd finished the bottle when I announced I had finally finished the gray goose.  Guys!

Work on my mom's estate has been slow through session.  I had some paperwork to file with the IRS that I was stressing over.  When I actually took the time to check what it was, it turned out to be a lot of nothing at the moment.  Just signing a form and saying there was no activity yet.  There won't be any reportable activity until we actually sell the house.  A lot of stress, a visit to the local IRS office, and an hour spent on a call to the IRS to figure all that out.  But the ladies at the local office and on the phone were very helpful, pleasant, and informative and I really appreciated their help.

I had my husband bring the bench for the weight machine down from the attic.  I am  getting closer to actually having to start exercising.  I want to try to figure out how to adapt my routine from the gym to the exercise equipment I have at home.  That will take a little bit of research.

I sewed the buttons on my new nightgown and the Little Guy's sweater.  He's coming to spend the night tonight, so I'll get a picture of him wearing it.  I found the perfect flannel print for a baby quilt I need to make for one of Elsie's friends.  I did some minor mending on items to sell.  I knit some on the snowflake fingerless gloves I started a while back.  I have all the yarn now to make myself a pair, but want to finish this pair first. 

I need to get some things done before the Little Guy comes over this afternoon so I should get busy.  I'm in the middle of ironing a bunch of small luncheon cloths for the Etsy shop.  So, if you need small tablecloths that are really nice for table centers, check out Elsie's Etsy shop over the next week to see the new additions.  She'll also be adding some new aprons.

~Jane