52 Projects is an adventure in discovery. Every week, for 52 weeks, do something. Something you’ve never done before. Something you’ve always wanted to do. Something that scares you. Something that inspires you. Something that inspires others. Something that tickles your fancy. Something that caught your eye. Something that just popped into your head. It can be big. It can be small. It can be whatever you want it to be. Find out how doing something can lead you to discover things about yourself, your world, your God. Then, come here on Sundays and share it with others. I'll write about mine here, you write about yours on your blog, then use the tool in my post to link to your something. Please feel free to jump in and participate anytime throughout the year!

Jane


Sunday, October 3, 2010

Week 37: sewing with my grandmother's linens

Boy, do I feel like an idiot. I wrote my post on Sunday morning on my lap top. The only problem is that my Mr. Linky information is bookmarked on my computer upstairs. So I saved my project with the intent to run upstairs and reopen it on my bedroom computer so that I could add Mr. Linky and I completely zoned out! I realized tonight what happened. I'm so sorry! Here is my post for week 37:

It's no secret that I make aprons. But lately I've grown tired of the same old design that I've been using. Truth be told, my sewing skills are rather intermediate and although I can follow a relatively straight forward pattern, I enjoy winging it and making my very own creation. Still, I would love to take some more classes on some advance techniques. There is something so soothing about the feel of fabric in my hands and the rhythm of the sewing machine. I intend to one day have an extra room where my machine can be kept out all the time instead of lugging it from the dining room closet. And my little stash of fabrics will be displayed and organized on open shelves. So it's no surprise that fabric, which is crammed in to dining room drawers, gets forgotten and neglected. Until this week. I had a little lightning flash of an idea to pull out the dozens of old linen napkins that once belonged to my grandmother and find a way to incorporate them in to an apron.

I love the result! For this project I selected some over sized white linen monogrammed napkins (2 to be exact) and sewed them together leaving a little "kick pleat" poking out at the bottom of the apron. The linen napkins serve as a lining underneath the gorgeous robin's egg blue fabric with birds, flowers and butterflies. I love this so much I almost wish it were a skirt. It has a fun flirty farm girl feel to it and the white cotton poking out from the bottom gives the apron a real sentimental feel. In addition, I decided not to sew the napkin lining all around. Instead I attached the top layer and the napkins at the waistband only giving it a nice smooth feel.




I'm so inspired that I'll be making another one later today with some bright lemon yellow fabric and more linen napkins with lace edging.

What did you do this week?

4 comments:

  1. LOVE that apron - and I'm not an apron wearer! though I'm not officially signed up for 52 projects, I'll drop in my link this week because i went nutty with some paper, a stepstool and some mod podge!

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  2. Jane: that's so cool it makes me want to wear an apron for the first time in my adult life. Or maybe ever. I wipe my hands on my pants; that's bad, right? It's so great that you gave new life to the family linens, and this way you'll get to pass them on again in their new, invigorated form.

    Hey, Aimee -- please stay. We could use the energy infusion. And Jane, sorry I'm late this week. I actually have a bit of a selection of things I could write about, but haven't been able to focus. I will.

    PS: my word verification is "brights"

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  3. Hi Jane,

    After a massively hectic few weeks, I am finally catching up with writing about my projects. This link is for weeks 35 and 36! Next up, 37 and 38!

    Now to catch up on yours!!

    Love and light
    xx

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  4. Oh my, I am just loving that apron. Maybe I'll have to get brave and make an apron (why does that seem so daunting?). I'm so glad I clicked through here. So much inspiration.

    This week I was reminded of how simple it can be to just add a splash of color here and there. Mod podge plus a few drops of watercolor paint and some old jelly jars/mason jars from the recycle bin, and I had some pretty colored votives, or vases for wildflowers.

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