Last summer I made a dress using Merchant & Mills ‘Scandium’ linen, a beautiful neon yellow woven with a natural beige colour. Perfect for sunny days! I still had some leftover pieces of fabric, so last weekend I pieced them together making a stripe feature of the beige selvedge – the straps are made from webbing I use for my market aprons (No12) which is from a UK supplier on Ebay.
….just a few teeny scraps left, to make into lavender bags.
This morning I posted a custom No4:2 denim crossback apron to Sarah at Mojo & the Maker. It’s the second one I’ve made for her; the first was a year ago, when between us, we were able to use the No7 apron she already had as a template, pinning on bits of paper, measuring, photographing, messaging, until it was just right.
The classic combination of red, white and blue – red herringbone tape adjustable straps with navy and white fine stripe Hickory (Railroad) denim. A split skirt allows plenty of movement and good coverage, the pockets have lots of compartments for tools and the crossback soft straps tie to D-rings- easy to adjust for a wide size range and fit over extra layers of clothing in a chilly studio!
Really pleased with my new potters apron design, which went on sale in my Folksy and Etsy shops today. Based on another apron in my range, with a re-designed split skirt, it’s incredibly flattering for all sizes, attractive, yet superbly functional for the needs of artists and makers. The pleated skirt and front overlapping split skirt allows plenty of movement whilst ensuring good protection when sitting at the potters wheel.
Found some time to re-photograph set of aprons – lucky to have my daughter at home to model them for me! From time to time I dig around in my huge pile of fabric remnants, leftover from cutting out aprons, and piece some together to make aprons … and other useful things. Inspired by Japanese ‘Boro’ and French & American vintage rustic aprons – reducing waste and creating something useful and unique, that will last for many years to come.
The lockdown has resulted in some energetic spring cleaning and re-decorating in my house… and in my shops/social media too. I’ve re-jigged things a bit here on the blog, adding a new header, and designing new ones for Folksy shop, Etsy shop, Facebook and Linkedin profile. They are all different sizes, so had to think hard about what collections of images would work. I’m pleased with the blog header, above, it’s so colourful and full of the things I love doing!
The Folksy shop always has the In The Making – Aprons logo at one end – I wanted to incorporate some work in progress studio shots this time as well as apron images. I love the photo of the blue apron, there’s something quite powerful about the pose.
The Etsy shop has the In The Making – Aprons logo under the header so I had a bit more space for another picture, in this case a toile and finished apron on the stand.
The Facebook header is much deeper than the others, so could only fit 4 pictures. ‘Facebook blue’ is a bit tricky, so I stuck to classic ‘complimentory colour rules’ with orange tones, quite pleased with the result.
My Linkedin profile is a funny one, trying to consolidate all the things I do. I couldn’t fit everything in the header, so I put together images that give a flavour of my skills; Drawing and designing – Contemporary work aprons – Music industry marketing – Logo design.
A new split leg, crossback apron in my Folksy and Etsy shops. The medium-weight hickory stripe denim fabric is a workwear classic, it gives great protection for all sorts of crafts, home & garden. I haven’t used a stripe fabric for a while… sewing the curved edges of the bib makes my eyes go funny! Also, after getting a few requests, I have introduced a Petite Size UK6-10 (152-160cm/ 5′-5’3″).
£92 Folksy.com – Etsy.com
January is such a quiet month – but a good time to get to grips with the new ideas circling in my head and all the sketches I’ve scribbled on scraps of paper over the last few months when I was busy making potters/craft aprons for Christmas.
This is a split skirt version of the pleated pinafore apron that proved popular last year. I love this soft traditional ticking fabric, but to look good, a patterned fabric needs a simpler design so it doesn’t look jumbled. The bib is flat, double fabric, rather than pleated, with a pocket added; the seam pockets didn’t work well so close to the front split, so I placed patch pockets at the back; the waist ties are longer, allowing them to be tied at the front too. Hopefully I can get a couple of these photographed on a model and in the Folksy/Etsy shops by the end of the month.
My cross back aprons always have an accompanying diagram on the swing ticket – if the apron is a gift the recipient won’t have seen the photographs, so the diagram shows how the cross straps should look!
Spent yesterday taking festive theme photos of my gift-wrapped apron, in various locations around the house. The orange berries from the garden look great with the pale orange tissue paper! Light levels meant the best spot turned out to be the mantlepiece in our front bedroom. I used the best photo for new Christmas banners on my Folksy and Etsy shops ( first ever Etsy banner for me), and intended to use a cropped version on each item listing …. at the last minute I had a brainwave and added Merry Christmas! text to the image.
