Sew excited

May 19, 2014 by Carole 13 Comments

Sorry for the corny title, but I really am excited about my latest finish. I’ve done a bit of sewing lately, but just simple things  like cushions and mug rugs. Other than that, I haven’t sewed since we had classes at school. I failed miserably at anything crafty, especially the sewing. That’s probably why I’ve avoided it until recently, when I got quilt envy while looking at my friend Tree’s blog. So, having had some slight success with the cushions, I wanted to make myself an apron. I’m a bit of a messy cook and tend to splatter myself and as I’m spending so much more time in the kitchen now, I felt that I needed an apron. And of course, I had to make it myself. No shop bought aprons for me. I got this pattern at the NEC along with some fabric. I decided to make D, but without the stripe down the centre. I did have a mild panic attack when I opened the envelope and found the instructions. And the pattern with all the different bits. I’ve never actually made anything from a pattern before and didn’t actually have a clue what I was doing. You know me though, I’ll have a go at anything. I’ve got a book on basic sewing techniques so using that to translate the instructions, I made as start. It’s taken me a couple of weeks as every time I got to a tricky bit, I put it away and did some crocheting instead until I’d plucked up courage to tackle it. The pockets were the first tricky bit. There’s a little one at the top. In hindsight, I maybe should have thought a bit more about the placement when I was cutting it out as I have an upside-down owl. We’ll call it a feature though, eh? There’s a larger pocket further down. And yes, most of the owls are upside-down on this one too. I’m quite pleased with how the gathers turned out. There was quite a bit of work to do on the pockets with the hemming and the strip at the top. All very simple for someone who knows how to do all these things, but very satisfying doing them for the first time. This was the most tricky bit, making and putting on the curved side pieces. I was very relieved when they were on, as until that point, I wasn’t convinced that they were going to fit properly. Once I’d got that bit done, all I had to do was make the strap and feed it through to end up with this. I did consider putting it on and taking a selfie, but the light is fading fast so I settled for this. I’m chuffed to bits with it. It’s not perfect by any means, but I’ve learnt a lot by making it and will be a bit more confident next time I make something to a pattern. Plus, I have something useful at the end of the project, and it’s such cute fabric too 🙂

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