The Challenge: #20: Alternative Universe – due Sat 1 November.
What is it?: An apron the women of the early-mid 1800's 'should have been' wearing. ;) (Obviously, that's just my opinion!) Privately, I do think they did, or something similar, just not in towns/cities/public. It allows free shoulder movement, protects most of a rolled up sleeve, and the double front layers of fabric, in a thick weave, absorbs most of the assorted wet ick that can come flying at center mass.
There are two double layer pockets at side seams. Open patch pockets are not really practical for this sort of work apron. Those tend to collect debris and dust inside, or whatever you are trying to carry tied up in the apron skirt (aka, turning the apron skirt into a knapsack). There is one pocket in the side top, for small thin items needing a bit more protection. (It will hold my to-do list, and my calculator/computer/camera/weather forecaster/aka smart phone. ;) )
What is it?: An apron the women of the early-mid 1800's 'should have been' wearing. ;) (Obviously, that's just my opinion!) Privately, I do think they did, or something similar, just not in towns/cities/public. It allows free shoulder movement, protects most of a rolled up sleeve, and the double front layers of fabric, in a thick weave, absorbs most of the assorted wet ick that can come flying at center mass.
There are two double layer pockets at side seams. Open patch pockets are not really practical for this sort of work apron. Those tend to collect debris and dust inside, or whatever you are trying to carry tied up in the apron skirt (aka, turning the apron skirt into a knapsack). There is one pocket in the side top, for small thin items needing a bit more protection. (It will hold my to-do list, and my calculator/computer/camera/weather forecaster/aka smart phone. ;) )
Fabric: cotton/poly fabrics for mockup, heavy linen for apron. Linen color chosen because it looks like a faded version of a favorite shade of blue. Making this apron color explainable as a faded old garment, cut into an apron, instead of being re-dyed. Abet, with new unfaded trim.
Pattern: My own, but based mostly off bodice shapes from 1850's
Year: Didn't exist, but should have been in use (imo) from about 1845-70+
Notions: medium weight linen bias tape for trim. Work aprons are not exactly easy to get visuals of, from the time period, but most things seem to suggest that no one bothered to trim them at all. How sad. Hooks, to hold the top section on securely, in the back.
How historically accurate is it?: I really wanted to make the waistband and ties from a darker color scrap linen, but I can't find much info on that ever happening. However, real aprons are very rare, as extant examples. So who knows what they did when the original ties broke/got eaten, or the waistband became a horribly stained mess.
The top of the apron is pretty much universally (so far) agreed to not have existed. Why they went with the shawl+pinner I can't really understand, except for people who would have surprise visitors. Unless, again, this doesn't quite apply to farm women, who would hear someone coming from a great distance away; leaving plenty of time to get the real apron off. (And then don one of those mostly useless half aprons for snapping beans, or whatever, while visiting?) So, I'm going to say generally believed to be not at all accurate, including my adding bias trim to a work apron, but I think it should have been.
Linen, in solid and a dyed color, also apparently never happened. Not in dresses, and not in aprons. Which blows my mind. :/ I don't understand why a check/plaid/printed linen is so much more accurate. The color/s in the check, print, or plaid would be just as prone to difficult dying, and subsequent fading. None of that makes any sense to me.
Hours to complete: Not done yet...
First worn:
Total cost: Everything came from sewing storage.
Mockup- 5 yds poly/cotton fabric, 19yrs old, maybe $3-4/yd these days? So, $15-20, without a sale. A stained old sheet and shirt, that lived full lives before this new life, going to call those free. A bit more than half of half a yard linen made into bias tape, $2. Hooks, off 20yr old shredded bras.
Apron- 3 yds linen $30ish?, bias tape from 1/2yd linen $2, hooks off same old shredded bras. No idea what hooks would cost, maybe a few cents each. If I ran out of old bras, I'd probably make some from the wire coils I already have for other things. It isn't so much the actual cost of these, as the gas pricey trip into town. Best to use something already here.
Pattern: My own, but based mostly off bodice shapes from 1850's
Year: Didn't exist, but should have been in use (imo) from about 1845-70+
Notions: medium weight linen bias tape for trim. Work aprons are not exactly easy to get visuals of, from the time period, but most things seem to suggest that no one bothered to trim them at all. How sad. Hooks, to hold the top section on securely, in the back.
How historically accurate is it?: I really wanted to make the waistband and ties from a darker color scrap linen, but I can't find much info on that ever happening. However, real aprons are very rare, as extant examples. So who knows what they did when the original ties broke/got eaten, or the waistband became a horribly stained mess.
The top of the apron is pretty much universally (so far) agreed to not have existed. Why they went with the shawl+pinner I can't really understand, except for people who would have surprise visitors. Unless, again, this doesn't quite apply to farm women, who would hear someone coming from a great distance away; leaving plenty of time to get the real apron off. (And then don one of those mostly useless half aprons for snapping beans, or whatever, while visiting?) So, I'm going to say generally believed to be not at all accurate, including my adding bias trim to a work apron, but I think it should have been.
Linen, in solid and a dyed color, also apparently never happened. Not in dresses, and not in aprons. Which blows my mind. :/ I don't understand why a check/plaid/printed linen is so much more accurate. The color/s in the check, print, or plaid would be just as prone to difficult dying, and subsequent fading. None of that makes any sense to me.
Hours to complete: Not done yet...
First worn:
Total cost: Everything came from sewing storage.
Mockup- 5 yds poly/cotton fabric, 19yrs old, maybe $3-4/yd these days? So, $15-20, without a sale. A stained old sheet and shirt, that lived full lives before this new life, going to call those free. A bit more than half of half a yard linen made into bias tape, $2. Hooks, off 20yr old shredded bras.
Apron- 3 yds linen $30ish?, bias tape from 1/2yd linen $2, hooks off same old shredded bras. No idea what hooks would cost, maybe a few cents each. If I ran out of old bras, I'd probably make some from the wire coils I already have for other things. It isn't so much the actual cost of these, as the gas pricey trip into town. Best to use something already here.
Starting with the mockup, based on the drawn design, and realized my drawing didn't remember I was wide across the front now. Haha Added some bias trim on the edges, to see how that might sit, and to fix the too narrow shoulders. What interest me is apparently that type of apron front style started coming into use, for fancy home servants, in the later 1800's. In starched white only, but still better than half aprons, or a shawl+pinner/half apron.
The mockup is out of something I think is 60% cotton, 40% poly, lined with an old stained sheet that's 50/50. Poly content theorized based on the print irons flat just fine, but the sheet isn't too thrilled about keeping flat creases. I figure I can wear this as an apron, although not an all day type, because the poly content makes it too warm. However... It's been in the low 70's/mid-60's here recently, even into the 50's at night. (YAYYAYYAY winter is coming!) So I am looking forward to using this for the next 4 months of cooler, drier weather. SC is doing wonderfully about attempting to have a cool season. :)
Oh, the upper part of the mockup apron is lined with a stained, old, shredded, button down shirt. Which gave me loads of buttonholes, and some buttons, along the waistline for fitting. I also am salvaging the pocket from the front, with a bit of covering 'tape' at the top of the pocket. It should still have a good bit of life left. Unfortunately, the collar and cuffs were both in shreds.
Still trying to puzzle out where the spray of blood(?) colored stain on the back came from. Blood should have washed out by now, so I have no idea. Could have been stained even before I got it, and I only wore it under other things to hide the stain? Maybe with my hair down? That would make sense why it was still stained I guess. For all I know it was in my parent's rag bag, many years ago, and I nabbed it before it was cut up for something else.
The mockup is out of something I think is 60% cotton, 40% poly, lined with an old stained sheet that's 50/50. Poly content theorized based on the print irons flat just fine, but the sheet isn't too thrilled about keeping flat creases. I figure I can wear this as an apron, although not an all day type, because the poly content makes it too warm. However... It's been in the low 70's/mid-60's here recently, even into the 50's at night. (YAYYAYYAY winter is coming!) So I am looking forward to using this for the next 4 months of cooler, drier weather. SC is doing wonderfully about attempting to have a cool season. :)
Oh, the upper part of the mockup apron is lined with a stained, old, shredded, button down shirt. Which gave me loads of buttonholes, and some buttons, along the waistline for fitting. I also am salvaging the pocket from the front, with a bit of covering 'tape' at the top of the pocket. It should still have a good bit of life left. Unfortunately, the collar and cuffs were both in shreds.
Still trying to puzzle out where the spray of blood(?) colored stain on the back came from. Blood should have washed out by now, so I have no idea. Could have been stained even before I got it, and I only wore it under other things to hide the stain? Maybe with my hair down? That would make sense why it was still stained I guess. For all I know it was in my parent's rag bag, many years ago, and I nabbed it before it was cut up for something else.
Thought I could share my pocket method here too. Not sure if this is what everyone already does, but I've not seen it in store-bought clothes. Went looking in my patterns with pockets at the instructions, and not in there either. There my be a good reason no one does this, but here we go.
I used the pocket from another pattern to make the shape. (Pattern pieces for pockets aren't really needed, just had one handy.) Cut the pocket on a fold, and cut 2. Looks a bit like a butterfly, to me. Then stitched my 'butterflies' right sides together, leaving a turn opening. Which was conveniently located (planned) on the selvage.
Then ironed flat, folded over once so you have a two layer, no inner loose seam, pocket. Flipping up to inside the section left open for turning, so it's sewn into the pocket. (If this doesn't make visual sense, think of a turned and topstitched napkin. Same idea.)
Now here is where I think I should use assorted instructions on the machine way to do this, but I'm not sure about the layers of fabric and the machine? What I do is machine stitch around the pocket, then tack/whip/(whatever you call the stitch), the pocket to the opening in the garment.
That stitching went so much faster than what I normally do. But the 'voice of doom' in my head, saying stitches that wide won't hold, was droning on. Can anyone confirm that this approximation of the wide spaced hand stitching, I have been seeing on blogs everywhere, holds up for years?
That stitching went so much faster than what I normally do. But the 'voice of doom' in my head, saying stitches that wide won't hold, was droning on. Can anyone confirm that this approximation of the wide spaced hand stitching, I have been seeing on blogs everywhere, holds up for years?
I did run across alot of confusing info about how a pocket should be attached, and cutting grain lines, but I couldn't picture what the people were saying. My guess is, I still have something wrong, but seeing how they have always worked for me, it's not terribly relevant to what I make. Possibly more important in something like pants, or fitted pocketed skirts, which I don't make.
The pockets have no exposed inner seams, and they are less likely to tear all the way through. I added some nifty little pocket supports/stays, I read about on thesewingacademy.org, out of scraps. I'm in shock that I never thought of these, to fix the sinking, full pocket, problem. No one I've talked to thought of it either! How did this simple, but important, bit of information fall out of common use?