The bottom border apron was easy, with just a bit of checked bias tape and a blue floral print.  There aren’t any pockets in this one because I didn’t want to mess up the tulip print, but there was just enough bias tape left to add some piping to the waistband.  I really like this effect, and plan to do it more often.

The fabric for the second tulip apron was a little plain, so I added a border and pockets made with one of my favorite feedsacks, together with some vintage unfolded bias tape that came on a humongous roll.  Because I felt sort of sorry for this apron (not having the beautiful border tulips and all), I think I went a little crazy with all the trims.

The cutting for this is very simple, of course, but it’s the prep work that takes so much time.  Selecting each little print; cutting up the old blocks or tops; and finally soaking, pressing and cutting.  Although it’s pretty time consuming, I am excited to share my passion for making little quilts with authentic vintage and antique fabric.

The top finishes about 17″ x 20″.  All fabrics will be pre-cut (including the off-white), and I am thinking of adding backing and binding in reproduction fabrics plus a little piece of white flannel for the batting.  That way the quilter would have everything she needs to complete the little quilt.

Patty’s apron project reminded me of the first real garment I tried to make.  It was in 9th grade Home Economics (one semester of cooking, one semester of sewing).  After spending what seemed like forever stitching holes in notebook paper (first lined, then graduating to unlined), and eventually making a pillow, our teacher decided we should learn to make a flat fell seam.  For my FFS project, I chose to make capris — tight capris — I’m talking the ones like Laura Petrie wore, and mine were so tight, the pattern called for little zippers at the ankle so you could get your feet into them.  The fabric I purchased was a red plaid cotton.  Seriously, my mom couldn’t believe it when I brought home the capri pattern with the plaid fabric and the little zippers, but when I told her I had to make flat fell seams, she started laughing so hard that she kind of freaked me out.

I made those pants (with my mom’s help), but I never wore them.  The leg seams were a mess since I was sewing the second seam inside of this deep tube of fabric where I could barely see;  the plaids didn’t match of course; and I accidentally put the zippers on the inside of the legs instead of the outside.  Why couldn’t I have just made a nice little apron.

Here is a 1926 apron pattern which seems not nearly as simple as Patty’s, but it has such a cute illustration (which I had to trace because my digital image was so poor).

My favorite part of the process is designing the apron, and this can take almost as long as stitching it together.  I always challenge myself to use only fabrics I have in the sewing room, which actually helps with inspiration, especially since most of my fabric pieces are pretty small.  I cut the tablecloth into two sections, the center piece with small flowers, and the cute flower pot border.

On the first apron I wanted to incorporate the whole border, including the corners.  Because I used part of the cutout center section as a little mini-apron, I filled in the missing center of the underneath skirt with a piece of vintage muslin.  The green is a leftover piece of polished cotton I used in the Cross-Stitched Tulip Quilt.

For the second apron, I wanted to highlight the yellow in the tablecloth.  There wasn’t as much tablecloth fabric to work with on this one, but I like all of the yellow prints (even though they’re new instead of vintage).

Note to future DIY upholsterers:  staple removal is absolutely the worst part.  I don’t know about other furniture makers, but I think the upholstery workers at Ethan Allen could easily ramp back on the amount (and length) of staples they put on their chairs.

There are lots of umbrella with flowers embroidery patterns, but they are usually more frilly.  I like this big, plain umbrella.  Although the pattern instructions call for appliqued umbrellas (using a print) and appliqued flowers (using solids with embroidered details), I think just embroidery, or crayon and embroidery would also be nice. To see the images at their full resolution, click twice on the gallery photos.

It has not escaped my attention that there are tons of really cute hand-made aprons available on Etsy.  Most sellers decide on a pattern and produce variations in different prints.  I can understand that this is an efficient way of producing a product, but it just doesn’t appeal to me.  Each one of my aprons will be completely different, inspired by a particular vintage fabric remnant.

The skirts of both of these aprons are made with a glazed chintz border print featuring violets.  The first apron has a green geometric border in a 1950s percale and a large bow in the back.

The second apron has a scalloped hem and is trimmed with vintage French fabric formerly used as a duvet cover.

Thank you so much for your compliments and encouragement in the whole quilt kit making fiasco.  I have not given up on this idea, and hope to have some new (less complicated) kits made up soon.  For those of you who were game enough to try my RPTPP quilt kit, we do have a winner.

The winner is Lori from Humble Quilts.  Lori is a very accomplished doll quilt maker (maybe you have participated in one of her doll quilt-a-longs), so I’m sure she will have no problem with this little quilt kit.  Congratulations, Lori!

I have spent the past two days selecting, pressing and cutting the 42 8-piece blocks for this quilt, a scrappy Rob Peter to Pay Paul variation of the Drunkard’s Path pattern, which finishes about 19″ x 22″.   Although I went through the process just the way I always do, it was pretty surprising to me how much time I actually spent on these tasks.  Some readers suggested, in an effort to increase cost effectiveness, that I only provide the fabric and templates, but that’s tricky when you’re dealing with odd-sized vintage scraps and quilt pieces. Another issue was the challenging pattern with all those curves in the tiny 2 1/2″ blocks and the 1/8″ seams, which would probably only appeal to more advanced sewers or quilters.  Long story short, I decided that this is the one and only kit of this pattern I will ever put together, and I am just hoping there is someone out there who would actually be interested in making it.

There are 42 cut blocks plus two extra (just in case, but not included in the photo — sorry). These fabrics are vintage 1930s/40s tightly woven cottons (no feedsacks) in small prints, and I included some cute novelties. Each block is composed of two prints (a few have one solid fabric) and I have matched up the prints that I thought looked cute and provided enough contrast, although you could certainly make changes. I have included a sample block for reference, and a piece of blue vintage fabric for the borders. I didn’t bother to include any instructions, because I’m never going to do this again, and I figured any quilter who could actually put this together wouldn’t need instructions from me.

If you are interested in making this RPTPP doll quilt, please leave a comment on this post letting me know, even if it’s only to say “I told you so.”  If there is more than one interested party, I will select a winner on Sunday, Jan 15.

The cut pieces below are 1 5/8″ on the longer sides.

A photo of the second doll quilt in this pattern that I made a few years ago.

There are a few things I’d change if I were ever going to make this quilt again (which is highly unlikely), but overall I’m really happy with the way it turned out.  I love the process of turning a fabulous illustration into a quilt.

Charley Harper Water Drop Quilt
Martha Dellasega Gray, 2012
illustration from The Giant Golden Book of Biology, 1961
hand embroidered & appliqued (with a little painting), hand quilted
48″ x 62″

I hope everyone has a happy and healthy 2012.

STEP 1
Click to enlarge this image.  Right-click to save the image, and then print it approximately 6″ x 6″ on card stock or mat photo paper.

STEP 2
Use a razor blade or X-acto knife to cut along the line below her bouquet where the skirt will go. The cut should start at the edge of her glove and extend about 1/2″ beyond her elbow. Cut a rectangular piece of white felt (about 1/2″ x 3/4″) and glue it in the white space below your cut.  The original card has a piece of white cotton fabric, but the wool felt seemed like a better choice.

STEP 3
Cut a 4″ x 1 3/4″ piece of fabric (I chose a vintage fabric scrap). Turn under and press the raw edges on both ends and the bottom. Stitch the bottom hem (the sides do not need to be stitched), and gather the top edge.  Note:  Barbara mentions in her comment that she has a card like this which used a handkerchief as the skirt.  The original of this card also appears to use a piece of a floral handkerchief.

STEP 4
Slide the gathered skirt into the slit and play with the gathers until you think it looks right. Turn over the card and place a piece of tape over the gathers on the back to flatten them (I used a piece of athletic tape, but you could use anything). On the front place a small dab of glue on the corners of the skirt and press them in place to keep the skirt from shifting.

STEP 5
Now you’re going to cut out the card. Place your card on top of another sheet of whatever paper you are using, and staple them together around the edges.

STEP 6
Cut out the cards together, using a gentle scallop around the edges. Be sure to leave an uncut area on four of the scallops, which is where the two sides will be connected.

STEP 7
Trim the two tabs as shown in the photo below. The front tab is twice the size of the back tab which allows it to fold over the back.

STEP 8
Bend the front tab so that only the red portion shows from the front. Place the front tab over the back tab (making sure the two sides of the card are lined up correctly) and glue the front tab to the back tab.

STEP 9
Trace a heart shape from the front of your card (the yellow heart) and cut two identical heart shapes from colored paper. Glue these to the insides of the card.

STEP 10
Place a drop of perfume on the felt, write a sweet sentiment on the inside, and you’re done!