Choosing five aprons from my collection to offer as National Tie One On Day giveaways was not easy. I had to consider which aprons I could send off and never see / admire / or wear again. At the same time, I wanted each giveaway apron to represent a unique design or handiwork. After all, they are presents, and I wanted each winner to delight in its ownership, as I have. Here are the five, with a bit of apron commentary.
The Hawaiian applique was sewn with machine zig zag stitching, but the rick rack was applied by hand. The stitches are so precise as to be a marvel. This apron may have been worn by a hostess throwing a luau, a popular Fifties party, with a pineapple speared with toothpicks of fruit kabobs as the centerpiece.
This apron’s pocket is so well aligned as to be almost invisible! To draw your eye to it, that’s my sweet little book, Apronisms, peeking out. The colors of the fabric are between pastel and saturated, from the 30s or 40s I’m guessing, and overall, very feminine in appearance and design.
Handkerchief embellishment was very popular in the Fifties. This apron’s border may have been sewn from one large hankie, which wouldn’t have left any hankie to sew as a pocket. The seams are finished, providing a very neat appearance to apron’s overall construction.
The sewer was not a beginner! I have many aprons utilizing hankies as pockets and/or the border, and worn over a solid color sheath, they are among my favorites to tie on.
These aprons represent opposite purposes – as a hostess accessory and as daily wear. The organdy apron is entirely bordered in a narrow, narrow pink bias tape that is machine sewn in tiny even stitches, a testament to the talent (or patience) of the sewer.
The gingham apron is almost entirely sewn by hand. At the waist are a dozen embroidered flat pleats. The same design is repeated on the pocket and border, between two rows of doubled rick rack. The shine you see is the reflection of the camera’s flash off the sparkly thread. For a daily wear apron, this one is haute.
So now it’s bye bye, time to send them off to their new owners…who I hope will provide us with pictures tying one on…an apron, of course!
xxea
