Sewing: Classic Stripe Apron

My love affair with this Lotta Jansdotter reversible apron pattern continues -- it's my FOURTH one so far. (Here are 1 / 2 / 3.) After the first one (for Joanne, who looks ridiculously adorable in hers), I decided to make one for all of my close friends here for their birthdays because the apron looks fabulous on everyone. I have to say, I think it looks a little better on folks with a larger bust area than I do, so my friends have that covered. ;-) Anyway, I've got one more to go later this year.

This one was for super-cute S, who mostly wears solids for a very classic, low-key look. She's a runner and prefers wearing loose, comfy clothing. (I also found out that she loves paperboy caps, which would look great with her current hairstyle. Note to self for her birthday next year.) I almost chose dark brown or black but then decided to use something brighter. It helped that right before I sat down to make the apron, I saw her wearing a lovely red-and-gray striped sweater top; and it looked so great on her, I knew I had to make a fabric run after that. This striped fabric was the closest to that design that I could find. (Jo-Ann's Fabrics seriously needs to carry more striped fabric, especially since they have such a large selection of woven fabric. Anyway.)

Construction-wise, I liked the one large pocket at the thigh area that I made the last time and so I did it again. I also learned my lesson from last time and made sure to buy 1.25 yards of each fabric even though the pattern only calls for 1 yard each. I'm so glad that, this time, there was no scrambling and piecing together different fabrics to make the apron; while it turned out OK for the last apron, it would have ruined the classic look for S's apron.

A small meditation on sewing: I thought that I would get a lot faster sewing this pattern by the fourth time, but sewing is just a time-consuming project. Measuring and cutting take the longest, and perhaps I take longer now because I'm more careful about measuring. BUT, I have shaved off some time since I first made this pattern because 1) I wasn't pulling my hair over the pleats, which I figured out by the second time making the apron, and 2) I didn't need to use my trusty seam ripper at all. Oh, right, I also didn't have to do extra piecing since I had enough fabric. Hooray for the small victories!

xo, Gladys