Aprons Return!
When I was growing up all adults in the kitchen wore aprons. When my sister and I got to help a dish towel was tied around our waists. One Christmas my Mother made both of us a small apron to wear when we helped. This Christmas I made my daughter and grand-daughters aprons. I was surprised they went over so well.
Aprons were made from flour sacks when I was a kid. They were 100% cotton and came in various sizes. They held flour, sugar and chicken feed. The earlier sacks were white, off white and often had ink trade marks. Mother would scrub them clean and hang them out in the sun to whiten more. It wasn't until the 1920's and 1930's that the sacks started coming in prints. I remember my Mother telling my Dad what colored sacks to get. The chicken feed sacks came in prints with no ink trade marks. These sacks had a sewn closing which after many tries you could unravel. Many of our dresses were made from flour sacks. In the 1940's the sacks came with paper labels which were soaked off.
Mother got her patterns free from the newspaper and they often had big pockets (which held hankies, candy, odds and ends) long ties and fit any size. Today I paid $8.00 for the pattern above and was surprised at the number of apron patterns for sale. Hooray for aprons. Grandmother
This is too cute. My daughter-in-law gave me a pattern for pincushions. Besides the pear, there are also an apple, tomato and strawberry. I will have a whole fruit bowl when I get them all made. The great thing about this pincushion is that the leaves are a perfect place for needles...mine always get lost in my other pincushions.
Aprons Return!
Be careful what you say. Gramps made the statement he would like to learn to play the sax. That was all it took for some of us to get the idea of purchasing learn to play music books, easy song books and some reeds for his Christmas. So then we had to find the sax which our youngest son played in school some thirty years ago. We dug it out and our son-in-law and daughter took it to the music shop to see what replacement pads would cost. After getting a $400 to $500 estimate, Gramps decided to do it himself. Now he has it spread all over the dining table and is slowly replacing the pads after ordering a "do it yourself" book and repair kit. His days are filled with shellac and leather pads and finding joy in what he is doing. PS I just hope he gets it finished by next Saturday. We are expecting our Daughter, Granddaughter and her husband and we will need the table. Grandmother
"No matter how long the winter, spring is sure to follow"
This Christmas was the first one we didn't have any kids home. They went to their in-laws for Christmas. But that doesn't mean that I don't put on the handmade ornaments that they made for me when they were little. If I ever have grandchildren then I will add those to the collection. My tree is always the same every year. It has the kids' ornaments, my husband's grandmother's hand crocheted ornaments and my grandpa's carved wooden ornaments. It's not very trendy but it stirs memories.