Food and Fabric

Food and fabric sums up this week's trip to Shipshewanna with my mother-in-law. She's still doing good but tired quickly. This may be our last trip together.

Our first stop was E & S Foods. It's fun to try new things, but I don't recommend honey coated flax corn chips. There was no mistake with their cheeses and flours. I'm ready to bake some unusual breads now.

The second stop was Yoder's for fabric, which was my reason for the trip. I asked for retro apron fabrics and they had such a fun selection it was difficult to choose. But I fell in love with this fabric. These colors aren't true; the middle picture is the closest.


Then I tried dozens of contrasting material. The smaller designs that coordinated with the main fabric were too busy and the larger designs that worked well with the print weren't the right color. So I selected a plain color and then some polka dots for trim. My intent was to trim in rick-rack, but that didn't work without a secondary color to pick up.


So the plan is to use my grandmother's handmade pattern and make a reversible apron with a plain green pocket on the print side and a print pocket on the green side and use the polka-dots to trim the pockets and perhaps the yoke. Or maybe I'll make a polka dot pocket on the plan side.

I haven't sewn for almost 40 years and there are few instructions with Grandmom Diehl's pattern--just the word "apron" on the large piece and "Set in shoulder seam" on one end of the small piece shown below. I decided to mock up the apron using an old sheet before I cut into my fabric. No way could I figure it out. So yesterday I bought an apron pattern (and sewing shears and pins and thread. Also some fleece and a pattern to make a hat for my mother-in-law as chemo claims her hair.) This morning I looked at the handmade pattern and finally figured it out. The small piece is cut on the fold where it protrudes. The long end is set into the shoulder and the short end is attached to the apron body as it wraps around the waist into the back. The problem is that it didn't wrap around to the back of me. So now I have to decide whether to modify the pattern or use the pattern I bought. Stay tuned as I continue to get in touch with my latent sewing skills.