Aprons - Making and Collecting Aprons

Aprons, especially vintage ones, have been on my radar for a few months. Not only are they making a comeback in style, but they are also making big impressions on bloggers. In a brief Google blog search, I found more than a dozen women who blog JUST ABOUT APRONS.

A brief history of the apron is given in Alana's blog:

The word “apron” actually originated from the word “naperon” which is a French word for a napkin or small tablecloth. And, some of you may be surprised to find that the apron did not start off as a piece of apparel worn singularly by women. Instead, aprons were mainly worn by men when they were first invented. ... men wore the apron while completing work in such professions as: blacksmiths, farmers and gardeners, fishmongers, meat and wood carvers, furniture makers, leather smiths, cobblers, tailors, jewelers, metal forgers, clock makers, barbers, and stonemasons to name just a few.

A few weeks ago, another post can be read here about Meg McElwee's figure flattering Sew Liberated Emmeline Apron. That project is almost completed, and I'm having fun putting the clever bodice together (it features three coordinating fabrics).

For your reading pleasure, here are a few fun blogs about aprons. They all have excellent graphics:

HER TIMES and Betty Ninja and Apron A Day and Flapper Girl Creations and Craft Chi and Lulus Vintage and Fuse Action and Rick Rack Attack and Tie One On and The Apronista (she is sponsoring two apron swaps for your participation) and Textiles and Quilts, which is especially for tips about collecting vintage aprons

For a quick pattern to make your own apron from one yard of fabric, visit: One Yard Apron.

Whew! On the right is a picture of a darling apron I purchased yesterday at the Farmers' Market in Palisade, Colorado.

It is similar to a wrap-around dress that goes over your head, made by Shelle Kareus and sold by her and her husband's business, the Uintah Trading Company.

Shelle and her husband are shown above with some of her aprons.

Don't you love it that Roy is a furniture maker and is wearing a catchy turquoise and red apron?

Leave me a comment and I will give you a contact telephone number if you would like to purchase one of Shelle's several types of delightful, hand sewn aprons.

SuccessSunday II

"Until one is committed there is hesitancy, the chance to drawback, always ineffectiveness.

Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation) there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would otherwise never have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and materials assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way. I have learned a deep respect for one of Goethe's couplets:

"Whatever you can do, or dream you can. ..begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it."
--author W.N. Murray, THE SCOTTISH HIMALAYAN EXPEDITION, 1951

Find out How to Post your own Success Sunday!

Socks for Soldiers in Progress

Information from this website says:

All soldiers yearn for care packages from home, and Socks for Soldiers is one of the organizations currently answering that yearning. Their specialty is providing sturdy, comfortable knitted socks to replace or supplement standard issue for soldiers engaged in our current War on Terror.

Socks for Soldiers is the brainchild of Kim Opperman, whose oldest son, Tom, first brought the problem to her attention. Tom serves overseas with the U.S. Air Force, and at one point he told his mom that he wished that all his fellow soldiers could have a pair of her comfy hand-knitted socks. Kim decided she could probably handle that. In May 2006, she founded Socks for Soldiers, a knitting group dedicated to providing as many pairs of socks to American soldiers as they could. Before long, the organization had received federal recognition as a non profit charity.

Kim Opperman, also referred to as "Sarge," is requesting 10,000 knitters to join her in supplying hand knit, washable wool socks to our troops. Opperman's goal is to "keep knitting (Big Black Socks) until the last American soldier steps off the plane onto American soil". At the moment, the goal is 100,000 pairs. Knitting for Charity says:

While the military does its best, it has to clothe millions of people as inexpensively as it can. Sadly, the acrylic and nylon socks modern soldiers get wear out quickly and can cause blisters. That's not the case with Big Black Socks knitted by Socks for Soldiers.

Operating under the theory that an army travels on its feet rather than its stomach, Kim soon amassed a group of over a thousand knitters from every branch of the military and every walk of civilian life. The VFW, the American Legion, and the Red Cross got involved, too.

Here is the progress so far on knitting my first pair of socks for friend Army Major Marc Reyher in Afghanistan. This camo sock was started on June 20, 2008, and 27 days after its start, the first sock is close to completion. It is not knitting up quickly, but steady wins the race, right?

A Socks for Soldiers knitting forum can be found here: knittinghelp, and the Yahoo supported chat forum can be found here at The Yahoo Group if you want more information about helping in this cause.