Sunday, May 1, 2011

Aprons and New Shop Announcement!





The Story of 'APRONS'



The principal use of Grandma's apron was to protect the dress underneath


because she only had a few and because it was easier to wash aprons than dresses


and aprons required 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.


REMEMBER:
Grandma used to set her hot baked apple pies on the window sill to cool.


Her granddaughters set theirs on the window sill to thaw.


They would go crazy now trying to figure out how many germs were on that apron.


I don't think I ever caught anything from an apron -



but love...






Above are some of the small aprons I have sewn and listed in my new shop. I shared some of my grandmother's handmade aprons in a previous post. I seem to like things small or over sized and decided there was room in this world for some retro looking aprons that are smaller and fun to decorate with. These work wonderfully as a window valance such as that shown at the top of my post. Just hang them onto either ribbon, jute or a rod with clothespins which are readily available. My window is 38" across and as you can see, four aprons fit nicely. The aprons also pin easily to the wall (using T-pins) as decoration or for a banner; tie or clip onto the backs of chairs for tea parties or garden parties; or maybe even over a lampshade (with a low wattage bulb). They would make great hostess gifts also. The pockets are fully functional and could be used to hold a small gift card or other small gift - or a note pad and pencil near the phone. There are lots of possibilities. My mom thought they would make cute bibs and then I was thinking they would be cute as napkins on your lap.



This is the first small cross-stitch apron I made. I was inspired by my grandma's aprons. This one took a lot of time to embroider and patience matching up the checks. It probably would go faster with practice, but I'm afraid I wouldn't get anything else done. Although I loved making it, for now I am not offering any cross-stitched aprons for sale.





I finally did it! Now I only hope I did it right. Please check my ArtFire shop out and give me your thoughts. http://www.artfire.com/users/CEOriginals Many of you have such great shops and are probably thinking I'm making a big deal out of nothing...but, remember I am not the most computer savvy person and none of this makes total sense to me ~ lol. By the way, I altered the window photo at piknic.com. Now that was both fun and easy :-)




I have some more items I will be listing in a few days, so be sure to check back. I will try to let you know about them here on my blog.

10 comments:

Marsha @ Tattered Chick said...

Connie, what a loving post!!! Your aprons are wonderful and so is your shop!!!

Good luck on your new shop and I look forward to seeing more of your creations!

xxoo

Mosaic Magpie said...

Connie, these aprons are very cute and bring back wonderful memories to me. I have several of my grandmother's aprons, I never saw her work in the kitchen without one of them on.
I love the cross stitched heart pattern.
Deb

Anonymous said...

Oh, Connie....I adore these aprons hanging up so that they can be loved and admired!
Great post, great shop, and the memories it sparked in all of us is so SPECIAL!
As always, your work is perfection!

Hugs
Jan

Magpie's Mumblings said...

Sweet little aprons and your shop is looking great too. My mother wore an apron every day of her life and they definitely served many purposes along the way.

Michelle Kildow said...

Congratulations Connie! That's terrific news! You are going to have a very successful shop. All the best- Michelle

Annesphamily said...

Oh MY Goodness Connie. These aprons are sweet! I love stopping by Your post is wonderful. Hugs Anne

Kate Tracton said...

I love this post! I still have some of my Grandmother's aprons - the useful ones as well as the beautiful hostess aprons she'd wear for company.

I recently inherited some of my husband's granny's aprons too. I treasure them all and use them to this day. It makes me feel like an Old Fashioned Girl when I do!

Kate

Annesphamily said...

Oh My Goodness! I feel like a princess with my new sparkly gold bracelet! I am so happy I won! I am so happy I know you! I wish you much love and happiness today and always. Enjoy the weekend Connie and Happy Mother's Day to you and all the ladies in your life! Anne

Lorraine said...

These aprons bring back fond memories Connie. I remember grade 8 home economics (I know, I'm dating myself) the first thing we made was an apron just like these!!!!

Gone said...

Love these aprons, they're so cute!!