Thursday, July 23, 2009

Things I Learned About Myself When Making an Apron

I haven't sewn since I was in seventh grade. In Home Ec, (do they even have that anymore?) I remember that I made a couple of felt stuffed animals and a turquoise shirt (with darts!). My mom bought me a used sewing machine so I could make more amazing creations, and I think I used it all of two times before promptly forgetting about it.

I recently decided to take up sewing again, as I've seen some amazing tutorials online and wanted to try my hand at some. I figured starting with an apron was easy enough, since it doesn't have to fit perfectly and it's all pretty much straight lines and simple stitching. That's when I realized the first thing about myself:

1) I can't draw, cut, or sew a straight line if my life depended on it. Seriously. If a deranged gunman broke into my house, held the gun to my head and demanded that I make a straight line, I'd be dead.

Exhibit A:



Exhibit B:



Exhibit C:

(The line above is supposed to go in between the carrots and the onions.)


2) I should never try to match colors when I don't have what I need right in front of me. I should always bring a scrap of fabric with me and not trust the color I see in my head. Ever.


3) I have very little patience.

4) I mess up a lot when I try to rush things.

5) I should not use contrasting colors of thread and fabric as doing that only highlights all my mistakes (see exhibits A and C above).

6) Everything takes at least twice as long as I think it will.

7) The image of the finished product in my head never matches the actual finished product.





On the plus side, I probably only spent about $3 on materials for the apron. (I'd add #8: I'm cheap, but I already knew that about myself.) I already had the dark red material, and I bought the veggie dishtowel at the Dollar Tree. All I needed was matching bias tape for the strap and some thread (neither of which ended up matching the fabric). The pattern in my head was kind of a combination of different tutorials, like this dishtowel apron tute and this pocketed apron tute.

Well, I wanted an apron with large pockets, and that's what I got. That, and some new knowledge about myself to boot.

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