I have aprons hanging just inside the pantry door in my kitchen.
How many aprons does a girl need? Really, how many can you wear at one time anyway? (The answer to the “how many you need” question is answered by “how big is your kitchen?”). Our current kitchen holds just me, so the answer should be “just one”.
But there hangs my little collection. I want to share them with you.
First, the green apron.
This one came from a family reunion in 1987(?) ish.
One of my Aunt’s printed them up for all of us. An apron. It is emblazoned with our family crest and latin motto. (what does that mean? Clean, exercise, sleep?) What a brilliant present! in the fullness of time, we all have these aprons in our kitchens! If they had been t-shirts printed for the occasion, I can promise, there would not be one left.
Next, there is this lovely green one. My bestie, (and blog partner!) made this apron for my wedding.
Here is a detail of the bird with the branches
The bird on the pocket
And the little flower in the corner.
Next we have the oil cloth Union Jack:
I wore this at school the other day at school and it provoked much attention.
When I was growing up my family lived in England for a year. During that year, my mother bought an apron that was exactly like this one. Dacades later, on one visit home, I asked where it was, and I was told that, sadly, this sturdy, laminated apron had passed it’s days, and was no longer with us.
Fast forward to the next century, and I was driving around San Francisco, when I drove past the gifte shoppe Annex store that is associated with a local tea house.
Love Joy’s tea room is about as close to going to Great Auntie Cici’s for tea as you can get, and not be related.
A group of Fine Ladies went to Love Joy’s dressed as “Princesses” one day. Super Fun! You can see, the interior is fun, and whimsical, not pristine or exacting.
And the “Attic”, directly across the street, is just what you would expect it to be.
(photo by Walker Duke, on Flickr)
The tea shop and the Annex are both on our route regularly. And one day, I drove by and saw the laminated apron in the window of the Annex. !!!
I think I pulled the car over so fast that I might have been a driving menace. I parked illegally, grabbed the kid out of the car (safe!) and went in! (wait, how safe is it to have a tiny person in a crowded, small tea shop? you know, “bull in a china shop”.) I pulled the apron down without looking at the price and bought it. (I think it was $22.00) I love this apron. It is so sturdy. And every time I wear it I think of my Mom, and our year in England.
The last apron on the hook is this one.
I made this apron and shared how to do it.
This one charms me every time I see it.
Just the scale of it makes me smile. And it is the exact color of “dreamsicle”.
Now, I will admit to you that there are more aprons in the house. But those are the ones that are out on the hook at the ready access.
What about you? Do your aprons all have stories?
© 2005 – 2013 Kathy Lewinski & Susan Cornish
Thank you for this, Susi. I have an apron that I love and wear all the time. I even take it with when I’m organizing the big annual meeting for the Co-op where we prepare food to feed over 200 people. But, last summer I found a lovely little hip apron at a farmer’s market in rural Wisconsin. It was made by an young Mennonite woman and when I saw it, I just had to have it. I was just looking at it the other day in the drawer wondering why I ever bought because I haven’t used it yet. Your post makes me realize it wasn’t a waste or a frivolous expense!
I have 4 aprons that hang in my kitchen, one was a gift from a dear friend when they visited from Las Vegas, the other is one from Blue Bell’s Little Creamery, my youngest son and I went and toured the plant with friends, enjoyed samples of fresh ice cream.. (still our favorite brand). The son bought me the apron with his allowance $$ so that one is very special. The other is a freebie from a big box store, they had a grilling expo and if you took a hot dog to the next level you won an aprom… I won, hot dog, bun.. pineapple chunks, peach salsa and finely minced onion I won out over a guy that put chili, the hot dog and some cheese.. oh and onion.. ROFL. The other is a short waistband style with 3 pockets, I use this when I’m cleaning.. I don’t remember where I got this one.. but love it and use it for many chores!
I only have two, though I need to remedy that, as I think if I had a nice laminated cotton one, I’d use it more. My granny made one with a bright and cheery daisy fabric as a wedding fabric (daisies were my wedding flower), and I use it frequently. I also have one my mom made herself in her high school home ec class, and I basically never use it–to precious to me! I have both of them wadded up in a kitchen drawer, but you’re right, I really ought to have them hanging just inside my pantry door so I’d be more apt to use them. Last Christmas I used this “pattern” http://www.thedatingdivas.com/kristen/flirty-apron-tutorial/ to make some gifts, but I ran out of my cute fabric to make one for myself. Next on my checklist!