The Ice Cream Social Raffle Baskets

The elementary school's big fundraiser this season involves raffling off baskets full of donated goodies at the Ice Cream Social.  I'm heading up the basket for my daughter's first grade class, and my neighbor, Heather, is coordinating the basket for her daughter's kindergarten class.  I made fabric baskets for both our classes because (1) I have an obsession with sewing fabric baskets, and (2) fabric baskets are way cooler than crappy wicker baskets from a craft store.

Heather's basket has a Michigan foods/drinks theme, so OF COURSE I had to use cherry fabric.  [I'm being a little bit sarcastic here.  Everyone in Michigan is convinced that they are world-famous for their cherries even though neither Heather nor I had any idea of that "fact" until we each moved here.  We're happy to go with the theme though.  I'm probably going to be kicked out of the state for saying that, actually.]  Anyhoo, I used the Crafty Hipster Featherweight Tote tutorial (adding Peltex and using duck cloth for the lining).

The basket I'm coordinating will have a "Cooking with Kids" theme and will be filled with brightly-colored kitchen utensils and a gift certificate for a kids cooking class.  I didn't like any of the cooking-themed fabrics at the store because they seemed too girly and I wanted the basket to be gender-neutral.  As a result of my new obsession with this cute chevron fabric, I had to use that of course.  I kind of winged the design and finished the top in a similar manner to my Boxy Fabric Basket.

I went rogue on the sides by adding some large grommets and knotting cotton webbing through them for the handles.  This may be my new preferred way to do this!  I also added a layer of fusible fleece in addition to Peltex so the basket would be strong and structured.  The panel on the front is actually a pocket that is divided into three sections.  I plan to stick the gift certificate in the center pocket and a utensil in each of the outer pockets.

Inside the basket, there will be coordinating parent/child aprons.  The front sides of the aprons look like this . . .

. . . and the reverse sides look like that!

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Linking up to: And Sew We Craft, The Stitching' Mommy

Mom's Replacement Apron

While Niki was down here visiting us in Texas, Mom requested that we remake her favorite apron.  Niki had make all three of us simple aprons (using one her mother-in-law had sewed for Corey once upon a time as a template) with crocheted ties and neck straps when we spent Thanksgiving at her house in Tennessee way back in 2005 (I think).  Mom used it to death, but it was getting long in the tooth.  Here is Bobo, disapproving of the nearly decade-old apron.

Apparently, Mom was pretty hard on her apron and eventually it cried "UNCLE!"  According to her, the rip appeared out of nowhere.  We think there might have been some cooking-related shenanigans going on.

Mom and Niki headed to the fabric store and picked out a pretty batik fabric for the replacement apron.  The old crocheted straps were still holding up well, but they did look a little old.  I was drafted to crochet some new ones with the leftover yarn that Niki still had and gifted to me when she declared herself on a crochet hiatus.  Niki used the old apron as a template, did what she considered to be a MUCH better job of sewing it (since her skills have improved quite a bit over this past decade), and voila!

Mom now has a new simple apron.  This one had always been her favorite because the crocheted straps were especially comfortable on her neck.  Niki asked her if she wanted a pocket or any sort of decorative element but Mom declined.  Sometimes, simple is best.  We'll see if this one survives for another decade!

Jordan's apron from a while back

I have made bunches of aprons over the years (including over a dozen of them for each of the guests at my sister-in-law's baby shower!), but the apron Jordan asked me to make was the first one I had ever made with a very special feature -- a long, skinny pocket intended to hold his cooking thermometer.  I think the apron he had from cooking school (or one he had purloined from a restaurant job) had such as pocket, so he gave me the pocket dimensions and left the rest up to me.  For the main body of the apron, I just sort of winged a pattern and hoped for the best.

I asked him if he wanted some pockets down at the lower part of the apron, but he declined.  I believe he specifically said that he wouldn't want to carry anything down there that would "ring his bells".  Good point, little brother.  I picked out some light canvas for the main body of the apron and used a quilting cotton for the neck strap and thermometer pocket.  I can't recall what I used for the apron ties, but it might have been some twill tape.

I sent him his apron (and an unpictured matching hot pad) in either the fall of 2012 or winter of 2013, but he just now sent me a picture of him in it.  You can't really take selfies with an iPad if it's out of arm's reach, so what he does is set it up to take a video of himself and then steal a still from it as a photo.  The photo isn't great quality, but you can get the general gist of the apron.  He took the photo to show me that he still loves it, and he confessed that it has yet to see the inside of a washing machine.  That thing probably smells like sorts of nasty by now.  I'm going to tell my mom to secretly wash that puppy next time she drives over to visit him at his bachelor pad in Waco.

Adorable thank you aprons

My mother-in-law, Barb, has two very sweet friends named Wendy and Joyce.  When they heard that Barb would be hosting a dinner for 21 people at her house after Grandpa Taylor's memorial service next Saturday, they called Barb up and volunteered their services to be both waitresses and clean up crew.  Barb was very touched, of course.  After she told me about it, I figured those ladies deserved a nice gift as a thank you.  I offered to make a couple of café aprons that they could even wear that evening if they wanted, and Barb liked that idea.  I got to work yesterday afternoon and came up with these:

Wendy is an interior designer, so I figured she might like the one with the modern color combination.  I thought Joyce might like the one with the darling pleats and fun kitchen-themed fabric peeking out from behind.  Barb agreed with me.

For Wendy's apron, I used a tutorial from Sew4Home for a half apron with jumbo pockets.  I altered the instructions a little to make the ties have angles ends, to add some extra top stitching to the ties/waistband, and to add a row of top stitching at the bottom hem to completely encase some raw edges that would have shown from inside the pocket.  The apron isn't lined, but I'm already scheming a way I could improve on this design to not only add a lining but also make the construction of the pocket a little neater.

For Joyce's apron, I used a tutorial from Thousand Square Feet (as featured on the Sawdust Girl) for a pleated apron.  This apron is also unlined and has some raw edges (which I sewed with an overcast stitch and using my overcast foot for the first time ever) on the back side.  Again, I am scheming to improve on this design as well.  This apron is probably not as practical as the other one because it doesn't have pockets and will probably need to be ironed if Joyce wants the pleats to stay sharp.  I guess it would still look cute with softer pleats, though.

I also think that adding interfacing to the waistbands of both aprons would make them feel a little more professional and substantial, but after adding the weight of a lining the aprons might get a little heavy.  Wider waistbands could also be even more flattering.  Hmmm . . .

I am not sure how appropriate it will be to whip out my camera at the dinner to take photos of the ladies in their aprons, but I'm kind of hoping I get the chance to so I can update this post with photos of the aprons in action!

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Update!  I wasn't able to stay long enough at the dinner to see the ladies open their presents, but Barb reported back that both of them loved the aprons.  Wendy sent Barb this cell phone shot of her on Thanksgiving wearing her apron, though.

Looks pretty good with her pretty yellow sweater!  Those are fabulous socks, too.  Mmmm -- that bird is making me hungry for turkey all over again.

Thank you aprons, concluded

I finished the last three aprons for all of Peter's teachers at White Rose, and even convinced an actual adult to photograph me modeling them since my previous photographer just couldn't be bothered yesterday afternoon.  Corey told me they were like a collection on Project Runway, so here they all are in one place.  Guess which one would be singled out by Nina as the one that doesn't quite fit with the rest?

This one was cute, but if I were making it for me I would modify the tutorial to make the apron a little wider.  I used twill tape instead of fabric ties for the apron strings and neck tie because I was getting anxious to get this all done in time.  Someone please remind me not to model in a tank top ever again, because I'm not so thrilled with the armpit shot.

I deviated from the tutorial on this one and unfortunately it resulted in the straps coming off the apron at a funny angle.  When I make this again (and I totally will, because there is nothing I like more than turning old jeans into something fun!), I will actually follow Kim's directions a little closer for cutting out the shape for the arm holes.  I also think the binding needs to be cut on the bias to work with the curves a little better.  I should have taken a photo of the reverse of the apron, because the inside of the jeans I used had a cool plaid print.

Corey volunteered to model this one for me.  This is for the only male teacher at White Rose.  I made it in a carpenter apron style, and just sort of winged it after looking for a good tutorial and failing miserably.  Fun fact -- the bias tape was made from an old twin sheet that I used in law school (until mom and dad got me my awesome queen size bed when I moved out of student housing).  The denim was just bought at the fabric store -- it wasn't from old jeans.

The next two I already blogged about previously.

And here is the reverse of the scalloped edge apron, with the see-through lining.  I didn't get the pockets angled correctly (which the author of the tutorial also said she struggled with -- so why not figure it out and add some markings to the pattern to aid in pocket placement, huh?), but it's not too crazy noticeable.

WHEW!  A couple of those aprons (the bottom two, actually) took a lot longer than I imagined they might.  I wish I had been there to see the teachers open their gifts, but Peter was throwing a HUGE tantrum at drop-off and I thought it was better if I just skedaddled out of there ASAP.  NanaB picked Petey up from school because I was at Charlotte's preschool picnic, and she said the teachers were all tickled with the aprons.  The aprons were individually wrapped, and they let Petey hand them out to each teacher.  He was so proud to do that.  So much fun!

Scalloped apron for another preschool teacher

Here is the second apron I completed in my quest to make all of Peter's teachers an apron out of "white rose" fabric.  I used a tutorial for a reversible scalloped apron and didn't read through the whole thing very carefully before I started.  This apron is very labor-intensive, but that wasn't the problem.  There it was in the very last instruction -- the dreaded HAND STITCHING.  I avoid hand stitching like the plague.  I was able to work around it and use the machine instead, but I'm sure it would have looked way nicer with hand stitching.  Considering I have no idea if the apron's recipient likes to wear aprons and I really don't know how much this gift will be treasured, I'm sure as heck not going to hand stitch if I don't have to.  Here is the apron, in all of its glory:

Charlotte took the photo, once again!  Note to self -- use a more opaque fabric if you really want the apron to be reversible.  Unfortunately, you can see the backside of the design through the lining (made from some old off-white curtains that were in our Tennessee house when we moved in) on the other side, so I'm just going to pretend it's not supposed to be reversible (despite the fact that I did put a pocket on the backside).  I ran into the problem again of not really having any coordinating in an amount sufficient enough for this project.  It uses a surprisingly large amount of fabric, but it does turn out pretty cute.

A thank you apron

Peter's last week of school is finally upon us.  He will be going to a new preschool next year (one with a more formal curriculum and less of a day care) so I wanted to say an extra-special thank you to the teachers who put up with all of Peter's drop-off tantrums, potty training, etc.  There are five teachers there, so I decided to make them each an apron as a thank you.  One of the teachers is a guy though, so I'm going to need to dig up some more manly fabric and sew with a few less ruffles for his.  I get bored making the same pattern over and over again and there are 4 billion apron sewing tutorials on the internet, so I decided to make each teacher a different apron.

I mostly followed this tutorial to make the first one.  I know the fabric combination looks a little funky, but I wanted to find a fabric with white roses one it (the school is named "White Rose Academy").  This is harder than you think.  I figured I would have plenty of options in my fabric stash for coordinating prints, but I guess I really don't have a whole lot with gray in it.  I think the combination turned out okay, but it certainly wouldn't be my first choice.  I will see what else I can come up with for the next apron.

I'm home alone with the kids and am terrible of taking pictures of myself in the mirror, so I asked Charlotte to be my fashion photographer.  She was so proud to be using Mommy's grown-up camera.  She did a very nice job!

The apron isn't necessarily supposed to be reversible because there is no pocket on the back side, but it is nicely finished on the back so that it could really go either way.  If I made this pattern again, I would use a third coordinating fabric for the back and add a pocket so that it could truly be considered reversible.

Goofy aprons for Mother's Day

I found a tutorial for a hilarious and completely unnecessary gadgety-apron, but I fell in love with it and thought it would make fun Mother's Day presents for my mom and mother-in-law. The bottom of it is a dish towel, and it can be removed from the top via the separating zipper.

I kinda sorta followed the tutorial, but I didn't use the exposed zipper technique.  I also bought some wide twill tape (love that stuff!) to use for the neck and the ties, because I loathe making fabric ties.  They never look as nice as I think they should, they're a pain in the butt to cut/iron/stitch, and twill tape or cotton straps make aprons and bags look a little less Becky Home-Ecky in my opinion.  I found that most kitchen towels were really really wide (28" or 30"), and it felt funny to have an apron wrapping that far around my torso when I was imagining the finished project.  The shortest I could find was a 26" basic kitchen towel from Target, which worked perfect because I was able to find some 26" zippers at JoAnn's.  Not the highest-quality towel, but it saved me from having the hem the edges of a larger towel.

This was my first time installing a separating zipper, but it was no harder than the regular kind. It was also my first time sewing on terrycloth, but that again wasn't much different than sewing with normal heavy-weight fabric. I fact, I kind of liked it because the loops of the cloth hid any goofiness in my stitching or loopiness in the bobbin thread. I need to get my tension fixed by the Viking peeps, I think.

I didn't take a picture of the apron I made for Barb because I wanted to get one with her modeling it. Here's the one I made for Mom (I'm an idiot and forgot to take a picture of her in it when I gave it to her last weekend!), along with the second hand towel to zip in:

The store was out of 26" zippers in white, so I couldn't make a second one for Barb. I will check the other JoAnn's sometime and see if I can find one because I have another hand towel all ready to use!  This was really fun to make, and I would totally make it again.

Projects from the past . . .

I found these photos on the iPad (Corey says taking pictures with the iPad is the new social faux pas, but I just tell him to hush) of things I have sew over the past few months.

Simple elastic-waisted skirt made with no direct reference to a tutorial (though I have made a few skirts in the past by using various tutorials!) but using a flat-piping version of the skirt pockets from this tutorial.  Charlotte Doll has a matching skirt with simpler pockets.  I made the skirts in honor of Charlotte's class field trip to the hospital where her daddy was born:

Easy Lounge Pants out of leftover fleece given to me by Barb:

More Easy Lounge Pants made from Corey's old t-shirt:

And yet still MORE Easy Lounge Pants out of my old t-shirt:

T-shirt quilt made by looking at a ton of different tutorials and ignoring them all (even though I probably should have listened to some of the things they said!):

Sporty Skirt out of a couple of old t-shirts (and a really cranky model):

T-shirt sundress (made from one of Erin's old t-shirts for Sonia, but modeled here by Charlotte):

Another t-shirt sundress (made out of one of Toni's old t-shirts for Sami, but modeled by Charlotte):

Reversible apron for Charlotte for her birthday (to go with the cookbook and cooking utensils we got for her!):

Catch-all Bag for Anna's 6th birthday:

Peek-a-Boo Toy Sack for princesses and other treasures:

Upcycled T-Shirt Dress (though it ended up a little short, so it's more like a tunic) made from a bunch of different old t-shirts.  I plan on shortening the sleeves on this one so it can be worn through the summer with some shorts!  Notice Charlotte clutching her beloved Dashi Dog (an Octonaut) crocheted for her by Auntie Ernie:

Origami bag (originally made for Erin, but I ended up giving it to Mrs. Dawson -- Erin, I owe you another origami bag!):

Appliqued t-shirts, flannel pajama shorts (made referencing this tutorial, but I made my own pattern), and a little zipper pouch (made referencing this makeup bag tutorial, but omitting the boxed corners) for Lauren's 5th birthday:

Fleece pajama shorts for Charlotte (to test the pajama shorts pattern referenced above before making Lauren's birthday present!):

Pillowcase dress made for Charlotte from one of Corey's old short-sleeve buttondowns:

When I gave the pillowcase dress to Charlotte, she told me she thought it should be "prettier" and in "better colors", so it looks like this dress is going to Sonia or Sami instead!