An Apron for Inspiration

I have been wanting to try my hand at an apron. I don't need another apron, so I kept talking myself out it. Then I got brilliant and decided I would make one for my sister! She is venturing more into the cooking world, and a cute apron might be just what she needs for inspiration! I started scouring clearance fabrics and found this heavier blend for only $3 a yard. I bought 1.3 yards of the main fabric, and 12 inches of the striped. This project cost me less than $4 to make, as well as cost me a seam ripper because I broke mine. I was using it as a multi-purpose tool and not ripping seams. I have learned my lesson.

I traced an apron I own and cut the pattern out of brown paper bags. It was a very sophisticated procedure. Just make sure you cut your pattern large enough to allow room for seams! I also did a larger fold on the top of the apron, so give yourself a few inches there. I didn't measure anything, just eyeballed. My sewing habits are probably a disgrace to the sewing community, but it gets the job done. And, when you have gingher shears to use, it makes you want to cut fabric all day long! What a lovely gift from my husband a few years ago.
I rolled the ends in to make a nice edge and ironed them down. This fabric really worked out in my favor since I don't like using pins. It held the fold beautifully. After ironing, sew along the edges, including the top fold.

I cut out the piece that holds the strap, making sure I had the curve going the right way for the fabric.

Putting right sides together (I used two needles to secure it just to be safe) I sewed along the curve. Repeat for other side.

Then iron the fold down and roll the unfinished edge to make a nice finished seam. I don't usually give myself very large seam allowances, but if you like to make sure you cut your pieces larger.

I cut strips 2.5 inches wide and totaling 110 inches long. The fabric I was using wasn't long enough for the 110 inches so I sewed the pieces together at an angle. Also, if you need to piece three together like I did, you can make the center piece a nice 33 inches and then your seams will be hidden inside the arm slots.

I folded both edges down and then folded again and ironed it all. This was the part of the project where I realized I really could use some pins. Instead I used bobby pins and paper clip thingys. They did the trick.

To make the pockets I cut out a rectangle (didn't measure though, just made sure it was straight) and then cut out strips to sew around it. The edge you see on the finished one was the seam allowance I gave, and then I just folded the fabric around it and ironed. The top of the pocket got stitched down, but I waited to stitch the rest of it until I was sewing it on the apron, and therefore only had to do it once. Sew the bottom strip first and cut the side strips longer to fold them under the bottom strip as well. I did the top strip last and made that a larger piece with a larger seam allowance.

I did measure the apron to make sure I was getting the pockets centered, because I really did not want to do that twice. I then sewed around the three edges of each pocket and wove the straps through the slots. This project did take me a good four hours, but I wasn't completely dedicated. I had to tend to a little baby as well. It turned out to be very easy, and I am super proud of it. Hope you like it, Sis!

Here is the larger fold at the top of the apron, and how the arm slots turned out. Not bad!

Alfredo Delicious

Tonight we experimented with homemade Alfredo Sauce! Here is the recipe we used:

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 1/2 cups freshly grated romano cheese
• 1 clove fresh garlic, crushed
• fresh pepper to taste
• 
  

The cheapest place we've found cheese is actually Whole Foods, so that is where this lovely cheese is from. For 1 1/2 cups of shredded cheese, you will need a block that is roughly a third of a pound.

After melting the butter in our double boiler, we added the cream.

Since my hands swell up from raw shrimp, my DH did the peeling honors.

We didn't have any fettuccine but the next best thing is whole grain rotini! We wisked the cheese in for probably ten minutes so we wouldn't have chunks. It also thickened nicely once it cooled slightly.

The finished product was delicious! Very cheesy, rich and not healthy at all! I was going to add a healthy veggie on the side, but it got vetoed. We'll eat our veggies tomorrow.

And here is my late afternoon treat and I just had to share the recipe with you all. These are my favorite cookies of all time : White Chocolate, Strawberry, and Oatmeal Cookies

In our house, we like to make a full batch of cookie dough, scoop out all the portions and throw them in the freezer. We can have a fresh cookie or two whenever we feel like it and only heat up the toaster oven to do it. I feel like that was one of my best ideas EVER. At least I think it's mine.

Exhausted!

I couldn't hardly sleep last night because I was thinking about all the things I wanted to make. Gifts, home decor, food, you name it. I have lots of plans. Who could sleep at a time like this? I decided I would start a blog to share my adventures, so thanks for reading! Hopefully you get inspired as well.

Much love.