Eight years old. Eight girls at a sleepover. Eight opportunities to make something unique and memorable for party favors.
If you've been around here for a while, you know that aprons have quickly become my 'go-to' sewing project. Partly, I think, because the ease of making something familiar is a big confidence boost, but also through repetition so much is learned about simplifying and improving a process. Have I written these words before?
It took three evenings to make all eight; a marked improvement over the two-day stretch of careful precision exactness with which I made my first. This time I felt free with my actions: effortlessly re-winding bobbins, adjusting thread tension, and making minor modifications to the style based on limited fabric and cord availability. The rhythm of press, stitch, snip, repeat was relaxing. I was definitely in a groove. This is what they talk about -- the women who love to sew.
The challenge and most exciting part was incorporating the machine applique monograms. I read a couple things and played around with the variety of stitches on my Viking until I found a satin stitch that worked. This soft pinwhale corduroy once backed with fusible interfacing was a dream to work with, as was the fuchsia heavy weight cotton canvas.
Getting photos of that hot color was interesting. I suppose I should've posted a cautionary retinal risk disclaimer at the top of the page. What can I say ... it made the girls happy to wear them, protecting their pajamas from pizza and brownie sundaes. And as they settled in (or not, in fact) for a movie I folded and tucked them inside a take home bag with some packs of homemade cookies.
The flowers were table decorations; polka dot ponies with their apples went home with the girls, ala Blonde blog.
It's a good thing today is cool and rainy so we can all rest up, enjoy a bowl of soup and an early night's sleep. How novel. I should probably run the vacuum too. Need to pick up plenty of popcorn in one room and pink thread in another.
