Grandma's Apron

The other day I was browsing through apron patterns on-line.

I particularly like this Stella apron from A Grand Revival designed  by Tanya and Linda Whelan

Then, quite by chance I received a round robin email from a friend with this narrative  about the wonderful uses that Grandma used to put her apron to, so I thought I would share it with you!

I don't think our kids know what an apron is.

The principal use of Grandma's apron was to protect the dress underneath because she only had a few. It was also because it was easier to wash aprons than dresses and aprons used less material. But along with that it served as a potholder for removing hot pans from the oven.

It was wonderful for drying children's tears, and on occasion was even used for cleaning out dirty ears.

From the chicken coop, the apron was used for carrying eggs, fussy chicks, and sometimes half-hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven.

When company came, those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy kids..

And when the weather was cold Grandma wrapped it around her arms.

Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow, bent over the hot wood stove.

Chips and kindling wood were brought into the kitchen in that apron.

From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegetables.

After the peas had been shelled, it carried out the hulls.

In the fall, the apron was used to bring in apples that had fallen from the trees.

When unexpected company drove up the road, it was surprising how much furniture that old apron could dust in a matter of seconds.

When dinner was ready, Grandma walked out onto the porch, waved her apron, and the men folk knew it was time to come in from the fields to dinner.

 

It will be a long time before someone invents something that will replace that 'old-time apron' that served so many purposes.

Mmmmn, suddenly I think I'd better get working on that apron - its going to be so useful (not sure about the cleaning the ears bit though!!)

Many times during last summer I remember pausing for a moment, feeling the sun on my face, taking in the feel of the dew on my feet as I walked barefoot on the lawn in the morning, enjoying the moment as I sat knitting in the garden, watching the late afternoon shadows moving across the grass, or just relishing the fact that I could work with the patio doors open. I took in those moments, thinking, I must remember this and store it up to get me through those long dismal winter days, just as a squirrel stores acorns to get him through the lean winter months.
Well. today is one of those days when I need that store!
I woke in darkness to that bitterly cold rain-come-snow stuff that doesn't have the beauty of snow, but is just thoroughly miserable to look at. It hasn't really got light all day, and motivation has been thin on the ground.

I do have new plans for my Etsy store though, so I shouldn't be wasting these days. I have bought some more organic cotton and look forward to designing some lovely little dresses with it.

Organic fabric is INCREDIBLY difficult to get in this country, so I end up importing most of it from the US. This does make me feel rather bad about its carbon footprint. It is also often out of stock, so I can't reliably offer to make custom orders. I love making things with it though, so for now I shall just continue to make up whatever takes my fancy and hopefully sell it in the size that I have in stock. My dream is that one day soon enough people will demand organic that I will be able to source it locally!

I have also been playing with some new sewn items - I'm not giving too much away just yet. I'm a perfectionist and although my first designs were thought by most people around me to be just great, I have a few areas I want to perfect a little more work on, before I let you see them!!

Hopefully, it won't be too long before you see some brand new sections in Lovefibres store.

Happy New Year to you all