A dress and aprons

I love to sew.  I love the creative process.  I love taking a yard (or two) of fabric and turning it into something to wear or use.  And the more I sew, the more I love it.

I would not have made these statements 10 years ago, when I could barely sew a straight stitch.  But practice has made it easier and now, if I see something in the store and balk at the price, I immediately consider how I can make it at home.  

A favorite project of mine is making matching outfits for Amanda and Merry.  Here are their Christmas dresses.  (Disclaimer...I only made Amanda's dress.  I was short on fabric, so my Mom volunteered to take the scraps and piece together a dress for Merry.  I pulled all of the scraps from the trash can and let her work her magic.  She did a great job!)

Sewing takes time and time is limited, so other projects fall by the wayside.  I still don't have Christmas cards printed or gifts purchased, but I can rest knowing that the dress is finished.  

On Friday I got this crazy idea to use some fabric from my stash and "whip up" some aprons for my cousin and her daughter, who were coming over to bake on Saturday morning.  So, instead of cleaning the house or prepping the baking ingredients or making the soup or watching a movie with the family, I sewed in my office, humming along with Pandora Christmas music.  It was a wonderful evening.  And here are two of the finished products.

I found the pattern here.  Of course, since I was using fabric and not tea towels, I had to hem all sides, but the cuts were the same.  If I were to do the project again, I would use ribbon (as I did with the girls' aprons) and not fabric for the tie.  I think I would also add a little ruffle to the bottom.  

The great thing about these is they wrapped themselves.  They looked so pretty in a basket on the counter when everyone arrived.

Here we are ready to bake.  

Mary, Anna and Amanda mixing macaroons

The boys did not get pink polka-dot aprons, but they were just as active in the kitchen while we baked. Andrew and Daniel mixed, rolled and dipped the Buckeyes, while Scott was in charge of the toffee.  After a while, all of the kids disappeared outside while the adults finished the almond cookies (and our wonderful conversations.)