Bias-Trimmed Aprons. (Finally)

Yeesh. What a weekend. I'll have to tell you more about it some other time. For now, we've got to see some adorable kiddie aprons!

So, you'll remember last week I was having trouble deciding which bias tape to use on my yellow stripes. The choice was between a tone-on-tone green print, and another yellow stripe with more colors mixed in. Stripey to the max, if you will. I think the votes in the comments here were pretty evenly mixed, as they were over on my Flickr. But then Liesl Gibson herself voted for the green! (you know her, just the author of our beloved book and the bestest kid's patterns ever.) Of course I thought that was a pretty good deciding vote. But then, I wavered again. You see, a certain sew-alonger is the mother of designer and blogger Jessica Jones of How About Orange. I'm pretty sure that was the very first crafty blog I ever followed, and she's basically awesome. Well, she voted for the stripes and I was torn.

In the end, I went with the green. True story, though pretty anti-climactic. I just thought it was funny how many designer-y opinions were getting involved.

 But you don't have to worry about the stripe trim, I'm in the process of putting it on this crazy Ikea print. I really love it on this one too.

Show off your aprons....you have a week if you are lagging... drawing for a prize from Mama Stellato patterns! .... Be nice to everyone else... you know the drill.

You guys! I'm so excited about the puppet theater this month! It's going to be our most fully customizable project yet, and I can't wait to see what you come up with. Join us if you are new!

LTTSA: Bias Tape decisions and a swap idea

Last night I finally got around to making my bias tape. A LOT of bias tape. There are about nine yards of the stripes and 10-11 of the green. And that's all from half-ish yards of fabric to start off. Yowzers.

So now I can't decide which to use on the yellow striped apron. The obvious answer would be the green because it's more contrasty. But I kind of like the subtle stripe-on-stripe action too. I really just like striped bindings. But do you think it's too light? Too babyish? Too many stripes? Maybe I just think baby because H's crib skirt was made from this fabric. Anyway, I like them both. You decide for me.


Now let's talk a little more about bias tape. Most of you will probably go pre-made for the apron, which you should not feel ashamed of at all. Making your own really does make the project take about twice as long and it can be tedious. But there is something about those tedious tasks that I really like taking the time for sometimes.

So if you decide to make it for this or any other project, you could do it this way (great post about bias tape in general) which is pretty much how the back of our book explains it.

But I do it this way, which was taught to me by my friend Julie. The difference is that you cut it in a way that it's one long continuous strip, instead of cutting the strips first and then having to sew each one together. It's pretty brilliant once you get the hang of it.

You don't need a fancy bias tape machine (though that would be nice), you just need one of those doo-hickies pictured in my first photo here. Just be sure you buy the size that is twice what you want your finished double-fold bias tape to be. For example, I mostly just want 1/2 inch tape, so I bought a 1 inch bias tape maker. They run about $6-$7. Tip: Some instructions will say to cut your strips to 2" for 1/2" tape. But I've found it runs through the maker much easier if I cut the strips to 1 7/8"

If you are unsure about actually applying the bias tape, I'm going to send you to another great Prudent Baby tutorial. (Geez Jessica, this would have been helpful last week when I was actually making my apron. I know, lame of me.)


So here's an idea I had when I was making a bazillion yards of this stuff:


Since just a half yard of fabric makes 9-10 yards of 1/2" tape, you will usually be left with a good amount after whatever project you are working on is done. And then you will get sick of that particular print of bias tape before you use it all up.

So what if we did some kind of homemade bias tape swap??

I'd have to work out the details, but it would probably look something like everyone buying a 1/2 yard of a cute print, making it into tape, then dividing it into 3 three-yard portions. Then you'd send two of those to me, I'd mix them all up and you'd get two different prints back. Does that make sense? If you wanted to get more, you could make as many half-yard's worths as you wanted.

There is no way I picture being able to organize this before the holidays, but is this something anyone would be interested in for sometime in the new year? Can you just imagine all the cute varieties of print bias tape wrapped on cards and lined up on your sewing table? I can. And I love it. Let me know if there's any interest, because I think it's a pretty fun idea!

The apron link party will start Monday. I know that's Halloween (woohoo!) but as always, you'll have a week to join in before I pick a winner for the Mama Stellato giveaway.




I'll leave you with this. But be careful, you might just want to watch it over and over for the rest of the day. (found here.)

LTTSA: Apron part 1 (and Winner!)

Can I just say how inspired I am by you guys? I mean, the projects everyone linked up this month are kind of mind-blowing. And I'm so encouraged that we had nearly as many finishes as last month. That's saying something, since the backpack was really a lot more work than the hats. You guys are hardcore and I love it.

Now let's get to it- who wins the Oliver & S pattern of their choice?

It's #15, Meryl! I'll email you soon to discuss your choice of winnings, congrats!

So this month when cutting out my pieces for the bias-trimmed apron, I took Sarah's advice and used freezer paper. It was GLORIOUS. I've had some on hand forever because I love using it for stenciling on clothes, but I don't know why it never occurred to me to use it for patterns. I decided to cut fabric for 3 aprons, and it took no time with the freezer paper.

Just make sure you trace the pattern onto the freezer paper with the shiny, plastic-coated side down. Then iron your cut-out pieces right onto the fabric. Since it stuck so well, I felt like I was able to cut much more accurately than with pinning.

And the amazing part is that you can peel it up and iron it to another piece of fabric, and it sticks just as well! Have you guys tried this yet? I'm really excited about it, like to a degree of ridiculous sewing-geek proportions.

I found my roll of freezer paper at Target a while back. I'm not sure if all grocery stores carry it, but I'm telling you, it's worth hunting down! It was even easier to see thru than my blank newsprint I've been using.

So here are my pieces cut for all three aprons. All of this fabric is from Ikea, you may recognize that middle print from when I used it on a floor cushion. 

I'm really glad I planned this project for October because we always like to paint pumpkins. Well, always, as in starting last year. I want to try to do more indoor painting projects with the kids as the weather cools down too, so these will be perfect for that. I thought about using laminated cottons so they could just wipe down, but I decided it would be better to be able to throw them in the wash. These are all sturdy home-dec weight fabrics too.

... Speaking of, did you hear that Ikea is going to stop selling fabrics?!?! I'm a little sad about it, and I need to get to ours SOON to clear them out. 

Anyway, next week we'll talk about making bias tape, though using pre-made is ok for this too. After making that, this project will go together like cake, which will be nice after those backpacks with 57 pieces. 

Also, I'm working on getting another prize together for this month, so stay tuned for that! What are you guys using for the aprons? 

Domestic Goddesses Need a Cute Apron.

My parents came up to visit this weekend so my mom could come to my baby shower. Of course, mom wanted to visit Sewn Studio, and while we were there she decided she wanted to make an apron and we picked out fabric for it.

That night, I searched my crafty online resources for apron patterns, and we decided on this pattern from Sew4Home. 

These are the adorable results. We basically used the pattern shape and changed everything else about the way the apron is made. Instead of using bias tape all the way around, we lined it with another fabric and topstitched around to finish. And we sewed regular straps in between the layers instead of those weird knotted ones.

And I actually taught my mom, the very seasoned seamstress, how to add piping! We used some I had leftover just at the top of the pockets and by the top strap, and it added so much.

She was amazed at the quick gratification of completing a free project found online that wasn't a huge quilt, and I just got to have fun sewing with my mom. I've never really wanted an apron for myself before, but now I might need to make one. Well, after my body is in a semi-normal, non-bloated state. They really are so easy and endlessly customizable. Isn't my mom the cutest?