Waitress Apron

My daughter recently got a new job waiting tables at an Italian restaurant.  After a couple of shifts, I asked her how it was going and she said, "Oh yeah. Can I have $30?"  What on earth for?  "I need to buy an apron."

Seriously, child? Do you not know who your mother is? I told her to watch the kids for an hour and I'd make one for her.

The apron needed to meet specs. It had to be black, durable, no glitter, no flare, three large pockets and then she held up her hands and said "this big".  She also said "don't forget the ties".  Ok, got it.

I used black twill, or whatever it is called, sort of a denim type fabric. It was 9.99 per yard and I used half a yard. I used one piece of black for the apron, making the bottom layer 18"w x12h" and folded the top layer over to make a 9" high pocket.

I turned over the edge and hemmed the pocket, then sewed lines to separate the pocket layer into thirds. Then I made a bias tape for the ties. I stitched up the sides then finished them with bias tape and added the ties to the waist.

After I finished, I enjoyed the rest of my sewing hour in peace and quiet.  Ahhh, I think I'll tell her that my next project will take two hours!

Toy Potholders and Ovenmitts

My grandson loves to play "chef".  He cooks for his mommy and daddy every day, and part of his play is to wear mommy's oven mitts and use her pot holders.  Santa is bringing him a play kitchen set and some toy foods and dishes.  Grandma is making him some toy potholders!

I cut 5"x5" squares for the hotpads and used the oven mitt pattern from the label on my package of Insul-Brite.  The mitt is small, but I folded it down so that it is even smaller.  (I did not use Insul-Brite in the potholders since he won't actually be handling anything hot)

I quilted the potholders and mitts with fleece. I had some plain blue fleece left over from a project that I made a couple of years ago. I bought the wrong color fleece and this was my "mistake" purchase. I haven't had anything in mind for it in the last two years, so it's perfect to use to pad the potholders. Not too thick, but soft and provides the right feel.

After quilting the pieces, only one more step! Adding the bias tape to the edges. And, here we have my weakness... I really need to get better at doing this!  With all the practice I'm going to get with this pile of potholders (I cut out more!)  I am going to be a pro before I finish them all.

I used the Simplicity Bias Tape Maker to make yards and yards of custom bias tape. Awesome little machine! I just had to try it out before Christmas! I'm not using the machine until everyone is fast asleep for the night so that nobody knows I'm playing with my Christmas present before Christmas. Sneaky, aren't I?

I decided the little kitchen set needed an apron. Yes, an apron!

As you can see, I'm having a great time making the kitchen sets and I'm using a variety of colorful fabrics. I'm going to give one set to my grandson for Christmas, one set to my other grandson's daycare, and one set is going to be a birthday gift for a three-year-old friend. The others will find homes soon, no doubt.