Project # 16 - apron

Posted by Alexandra at Studio Alexandra

Here it is!

I was inspired by More Retro Aprons, with its cute styles and different prints. Initially, I traced off view B, then I changed my mind and ended up with a morph of views B and D. The top and the waistband are lined, the skirt is not. The neck strap is just that and non-adjustable, the back ties extend from the waistband.

This is the first apron I've ever made so it was a real learning experience.
The worst part was ripping out the stitching on the original denim apron - those people were really fond of bartacking. After that, it was pretty smooth sailing. I drew a rectangle around the logo and marked the center to help position the pattern piece. This was necessary because it was printed seriously off-grain.

My favorite part was the ruffle - I hemmed it with a narrow roll-hem foot (Bernina #64) and then used the newest addition to my "presser foot stable", The Monster a.k.a. the ruffler (Bernina #86) to make evenly spaced pleats. Bernina has a cool video demonstrating the use of this foot.

I used an existing denim apron for the logo part, a flowery quilting cotton for the waistband, skirt and lining, and some leftover white double-fold bias tape for flat piping around the denim (it's hard to see in the pictures, but I piped all four sides). The strap and ties came from the denim apron; I figured less work for me.

All in all, pretty easy to make, I got to use some specialty feet that usually don't get much workout , and I have a one-of-a-kind apron that no other consultant has.

Mostly comments

Posted by Alexandra at Studio Alexandra

I spent this afternoon making a new apron. I needed one. Pictures tomorrow (my photographer went to see Munich today).

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Thank you all very much for the lovely comments. I really have missed you all.

Kathy: The machine knitting conference is open to anyone, beginners through experts. I believ the next one will also be in Cleveland, at least judging from what I heard there. Next year's dates are September 25-26 for the main event. This year, there were full-day seminars; one the day before, the other the day after the main event. You can stalk BT Yarns for more information (look for Inspiration 2009).

Charlene: I don't have my knitting machine set up right now, but you can see one here. Setting it up is on my list of things to do next week.

Dana, I didn't realize you were in Cleveland. We'll definitely get together and talk sewing next year.

Honey, I'm home!

Posted by Alexandra at Studio Alexandra

Did you miss me? 'Cause I certainly missed you! See, what happened was... (here come the excuses, hehe) I went on vacation stateside with a brand-new laptop that didn't have my good old cookies. And my password reminder sheet stayed in Germany.
Sooo.... I couldn't blog. And I couldn't get into Bloglines to read everyone's blogs either. Well, now that I'm thinking about it, I suppose I could have just clicked on the ubiquitous "forgot password?" button but it didn't occur to me. Instead I took it as a sign that it's time for a short break from the internet.

I relaxed plenty, had fun, did some school assignments (not so much fun), spent the Labor Day weekend in Branson with my husband and his family (recommend Branson, do not recommend Labor Day weekend), met Marji who showed me exquisite fabrics I had only dreamed about before, went to a machine knitting conference, spent several days reminiscing with friends I hadn't seen in over a decade, and then finally flew back to Germany. In all this time, I drove well over 3,000 miles in my allt-ime favorite car, the unassuming Honda Civic (and I don't think Hertz will ever let me get a car from them again, hehe).

Now I'm back in Germany, trying to change gears quickly from wearing dresses and strappy heels in the warm sunny weather to whatever it takes to stay warm with daily highs in the upper 50's and lower 60's (it drops to 30's and lower 40's overnight). Sheesh!

As soon as I get over this jet lag, I want to get back into sewing and also some machine knitting. There was so much to see at the conference in Cleveland; I promised myself to truly master the knitting machine basics this year so that I could learn much more next year.