Thursday, June 28, 2012


Happy Summertime to All of You Lovely Art Ladies!  
What do you do with a stack of vintage embroidered doilies that are collecting dust on the shelf?
You make a sweet little apron to wear for when you are whipping up a batch of delicious French macarons, washing the dishes, or hostessing an an afternoon tea party!

Using various types of embroidered dresser scarves and doilies you can make an apron that will tickle you pink. This is a good way to use defective, cutter doilies.  I used many doilies that had stains and holes and worked around those areas.

Please read all of the directions before cutting and sewing since this is a "design and sew as you go" type of pattern. 
Ingredients:
Keep in mind that this is an approximate pattern and adjustments will have to be made according to the sizes and embroidered patterns of your own doilies and whether or not you are working around stains or holes.  This isn't rocket science, ladies!  These directions are for a small to medium women's sized apron. You can add or subtract to adjust the pieces to fit your particular size.
  • 1 or 2 Dresser Scarf Doilies for Center and Side Panels of Skirt. Cut (1) approximately 13W X 19L inches for the center panel and (2) approximately 7W X 19L inches for the right and left panels (You will need two different dresser scarves if you want the skirt side panels to be different from the center panel).
  • 1 or 2 Small Oval Doilies for Pockets. These need to be approximately 8W X 20L inches long if cutting one in half, or smaller if using two separate doilies. Depending on the design, size, and shape of the doily you might be able to use just one by cutting it in half. Or it would be cute to make the pockets out of two different smaller doilies, etc. You could even make two pockets out of two small round matching doilies. I used two matching doilies and made cuffs at the top of the pocket, see picture of completed apron.  The doilies I used were from a set that would have covered the arms of a sofa to keep them from getting soiled.
  • 5 Scraps of Embroidered Pillow Cases and/or Doilies for Waist Ties and Neck Ties. Cut (2) approximately 5W X 22L inches or longer for the waist ties and cut (2) approximately 5W X 18L inches or longer for neck ties. 
  • 1 Scrap of Embroidered Pillow Case or Doily for Waistband. Cut (1) approximately 4.5W X 17L inches or longer* not including the lace edging (The waistband in the completed apron picture has a finished lace edging but  if you don't have a doily piece with lace edging then you will need to add another one-half inch for seam allowances to each of the short sides. Also you will need to add another half-inch seam allowance to one raw edge of the length to allow to turn under. Refer to picture under step 7 in the directions for an idea of what the waistband with lace edge looks like when it is cut out and pressed). *Remember, if you make your waistband longer you will need to add width to the apron panels.
  • 1 or 2 Oval and/or Round Embroidered Doilies for the Bib.  (1) doily approximately 11W X 18L inches and (1) round doily approximately 11 inches diameter (In the completed apron I have used part of one smaller round doily to layer on top of a piece of a larger oval doily. You will need to gauge your own doilies by pinning them to your assembled skirt and waistband and adjusting them as necessary to fit before sewing them together).
  • Thread
  • Sewing Machine
  • Iron
  • Ironing Board
  • Pins
  • Scissors
  • Measuring Tape
  • Optional Lengths of Crocheted Lace for Decorating the Ties if you want to make the ties out of plain fabric.
On the next blog post we will cut out the pieces and then sew them together.


Happy Sewing and Happy Apron-Wearing! 

Loves and Hugs, 
Cheryl

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