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Apron Recipe for the Celebrations Book


Our first aprons have brought back a lot of nostalgic memories for so many of you and we have loved hearing those stories and seeing all the pictures you have sent us about those aprons.  

We wanted to once again have ten aprons which would each be unique but all similar.


The inspiration from our new aprons came from remembering the hostess aprons that were popular when we were young girls and young brides.
Our Mom's would sew aprons for the young ladies to wear who served at the weddings in our church basements.
It would be a gift to them for serving and they loved the opportunity to serve coffee with young men in the church.
The young women would take the coffee cups and the young men would pour the coffee.
Since my mom did a lot of sewing as favours to young brides I recall her having a pile of aprons that she would work on in an assembly line.
Does anyone else remember this?
Was it common where you lived?
In the photo above you can see several  retro aprons that we modeled for each other once this idea took shape.


Most of the aprons that my Mom sewed were of a crisp sheer or swiss dot which is no longer available.
Sometimes they were all sheer with a bit of embroidery at the hem or sometimes they were sheer and cotton.

We found a pattern (C) we loved and then went shopping for fabric.
We already had our color theme picked and so in each fabric store our eyes would look for colours in lavender and spring green with a touch of yellow and white.



I set to work on the test apron and sent this photo to the rest of the group for their approval.
The daisy trim we found had us smiling at the memories of daisy trim on our dresses from many years ago.


The pocket was shaped perfectly for the hankie that every girl would keep handy.
Once we all agreed that this apron would be perfect for our Celebrations book...
the fabric was all sent over to Julie's house where she sat at her sewing machine sewing.
Julie did a beautiful job of sewing our aprons and we'll cherish them forever.


If any of you are thinking of making similar aprons...
we would suggest that it is easiest to put the sheer as part of the skirt and have the scalloped hem made of cotton.


We'd love to see what you come up with.
Send us the photos or come to one of our signings this next week in Manitoba with your apron new or old!
We'd love to see you there!


20 comments:

  1. I love your new aprons. Thank you for telling us about them. I think I'm going to try and make some of the 'frilly' ones; they are soooo pretty. I'll have to make them as gifts, though; I am such a sloppy cook that I need all the coverage I can get!!!! Love your blog and FB page.....and your cookbooks. :-)

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  2. They are delightful! I do have a half apron that my mother made that is a bit similar in that it is not meant to be a working apron. My grandmother sometimes tied on a hostess apron when having guests. Ditto my mother. I never have, though I'm prone to wearing an apron when doing housework or baking...not a pretty one like these.

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  3. Love this. I hope you will consider selling them.

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  4. Lovella - this is such a great story and your foresight turned out beautiful!!! I have 2 or 3 of these pretty "wedding server" aprons that I wore in my teenage years. I'll have to dig them out of my cedar chest and take a picture for you. This was a GREAT idea for your Celebrations book. Julie did a super job sewing them. I notice that the inside covers of your gorgeous book shows one of the fabrics used - so pretty! Hope your book launch in Manitoba goes well and look forward to some reports!

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  5. yes the memeories ,,would it not be nice to see again at weddings paried up ladies holding the cup,s and men pouring .. (being a commissinor ) it is all sooooooooooooo differnt now a days one sees all ........... these were not working apron.s just the Sunday looking best ,,, still use the full with bib ,, for cooking ..
    thanks for back in time good ole days ..

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  6. I love pretty aprons. And I just love that apron theme you run through your work. I got your Celebrations cookbook from the library to give it a "trial run" and I just can not wait to purchase it!! It is not only full of good recipes but also stories and beautiful photos. I have a feeling that in-between uses it will be on the coffee table! :)

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  7. I do remember the aprons and serving at at least one friend's wedding wearing one. (Circa 1972). Soon after that, servers and aprons went out of fashion in our neck of the woods out east. But yes! I still have one old apron -- and do they really not make swiss dot any more??? Nice to know someone who remembers dotted swiss (which is what we called it.)

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  8. I used to play dress up with my mom's hostess apron collection. They were made from sheer or fine fabric and seasonally motif trimmed. By the time I was cooking ( around age six). I was frustrated by the fact that splashes and spills hit my chest area and there were no full apron patterns sized for children.
    My favorite waist apron was actually a coloring apron: it had a trim across the hem to hold individual crayons and pockets for sharpeners and scissors. I got it when I was about five and was quite sad to out grow it over time! So handy!

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  9. Such a fun post to see!! That first photo is wonderful (and whoever is responsible for that beautifully perfect lawn should get a reward!!)

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  10. What a picture perfect scene with green all around and the pretty aprons on the line. I'm such a messy cook wantabe that I use an apron with a bib to protect my cloths from splash.

    JB

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  11. I grew up in Central Illinois [near El Paso--*not* the one in Texas! as my dad loved to say] and, yes, it was traditional that someone would make similar aprons for all the "serving girls" [who were young women, not girls]. I remember someone asking my mom to make hers. She made them from a variety of light colored cotton organdies and scalloped the hems so that while the lower edge was straight, there were lovely double-layered scallops at the top of the hem. I'm wondering if anyone anywhere still makes special aprons for the wedding receptions.
    Thanks for activating the memories!

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  12. In home-economics class in 7th grade,the first thing we had to make was an apron. I had forgotten all a bout it. My favorite color was red, so I made a red polka dot apron with red ruffles and big pockets. Thanks for the memory!
    Sylvia

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  13. My aprons are much more utilitarian, catch the spills and spatters and are used to wipe my hands in a pinch. But still do not compare for the utilitarian ones my Ukrainian grandmother wore in her 40s and 50s Saskatchewan kitchen. It had a high neckline, to the collorbone, and sleeves that covered your arms or dress sleeves, and it came down to the knees. It was loose and open at the back, the whole thing resembling a hospital gown, but much nicer looking in soft cotton, with pockets, generously wide and long ties going to the back and crossing to come to the front, and gathered at the shoulders and wrists. Then, you covered your hair too with a matching white cotton 'babushka'. Voila. Meant for work.

    Sharon

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  14. I wish I knew what happened to all of Mom's aprons---those fancy ones were hardly ever used.
    a type-o for you to fix: Julie did a beautiful(job) of sewing our aprons and we'll cherish them forever. "job" is missing. thought you might like to fix it.

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    Replies
    1. OH yes...thanks for that heads up Ang! I have fancy ones sitting here too and almost feel convinced they should be used at least when company comes.

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  15. As a young girl I remember always wanting to be like my Mom and Oma and wear aprons while they were cooking or cleaning. Seeing the beautiful aprons on this site has brought back some wonderful memories for me. :)

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  16. In case anyone wants to use dotted swiss for one of these adorable aprons, there is dotted swiss fabric available online. Here's one place: http://bit.ly/18McaQw OR http://www.fabric.com/SearchResults2.aspx?Source=Header&SearchText=dotted+swiss&CategoryID=1d5f47dc-9991-4088-93f3-26a376046a5e
    Nancy

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  17. Our Homemakers group had an apron theme for our spring banquet. We all brought our special aprons and displayed them, had a little fashion show and told the stories of our aprons. It was so much fun. I brought a hand knit hostess apron, fine cotton thread with satin ribbon for the sash from my father's mother and a calico slip over back criss cross from my mother's mother . Both greater than fifty years old.

    I bought a pattern back in the 70's that I still use. It is a smock with three quarter sleeves and front pocket. Ties in the back. I think it was supposed to be after a Japanese style. My girls are all getting new ones this Christmas.

    I remember putting that daisy trim on the first "grown up " dress I sewed in Home Ec ala 1970. It had three sets of darts. Three!

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  18. I have my apron that my mom sewed for me when I was a little girl of about 2-3. It is over 50 years old. It is now dressed on a teddy bear that sits in my living room. What a wonderful blog this is!

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  19. I am NEW to this Site, I just found this by Accident Looking for Recipes for "QUANITY COOKING", I cannot Believe I have Sat Here all Day browsing and I just Love this Site. Now One of my favorites. . I also Love this Pattern for Aprons. I am Hoping I can still find this. I have Looked for a Similar Pattern before NO LUCK. .

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