Treasure aprons

As part of my decluttering and reassessing project, I intend to reduce my stash of fabric and yarn.  Given that just about everything there was purchased with a specific project in mind and the fact that I still really like all of those potential projects, this shouldn't be too difficult to do (though it will be rather time consuming).

A few months ago, I spotted and admired the stashing treasures play aprons on Rhythm of the Home.  They seemed perfect for our girls who are always collecting little leaves, rocks, feathers and shells when we are out and about.  Being the loving and considerate mama I am, I decided to make these aprons immediately.  I went out that day and bought gorgeous fabric in their favorite colors, brought it home and plopped it next to the sewing machine.  A few months ago.  Ahem.    

Last week, I finally ran that fabric through the wash and ironed it.  Another day, the fabric was measured and cut.  Another day, pinned and the body sewn.  Finally, last night the apron ties were completed!  I left them lovingly draped over the girls' chairs to be discovered first thing this morning.  From there, they were pushed to the floor in pre-breakfast mayhem and not given much notice.  Hey, just because it's handmade doesn't make it a guaranteed source of admiration from a 5- and a 2-year-old.

The process of making these little aprons took me nearly a week to complete, although they are not difficult at all.  They are exceedingly cute and practical!  The long ties enable a child to tie (or at least cinch) the apron in place without adult help.  My girls love the fabrics and seem at least vaguely interested in putting them to use.  We're headed to the park after school today to give them a trial run.

Note:  I do not know how big a child is considered for the apron pattern, but I guessed it would be too big for my girls.  I reduced the width by 2 inches and measured each girl waist down to whereabouts I thought the apron should go and added a half an inch or so for the length.  For my wee one, that gave me large rectangles of 9"x14.5" with two 5"x34" straps, and my girl needed 11"x14.5" large rectangles with two 5"x36" straps.  For the smaller pocket, I reduced the length by 2.5" (the pattern did 3").  Other than that, I followed the directions as written.

Test run this afternoon confirmed that the size adjustments were wise, though I think the original size would have worked for my big girl.  It would have been a bit big, but the added inches would give it longer life.  Wee One's ties could have been longer (again for longer life), but both aprons did the trick and inspired serious collecting in the park.

Comments

[LavenderHeartsandBeyond]

Beautiful, as always! Hope the trial run was a big success and lots of fun for all of you.

[Aussie Mum]

Oh these are beautiful. Do you think my boys would thinks so? Maybe not. Perhaps I could make them in a suitable colour and tell Junior it is a carpenters apron for all his nails and things? Well done for tackling your fabric stash - mine is still waiting.

[heldin im chaos]

Thanks, ladies!

Aussie Mum, I definitely think your boys would be keen, especially Junior. You could easily make it up in solids or simple prints like stars or spots. I think it would be awesome in three different solids. The best part is that it's all cotton so it's machine-washable (a must!). We didn't get to use ours yesterday, but we're going to try again today. The girls definitely see the potential!