Aprons for the Grandmothers

I have been very busy this week! It is my niece's first birthday, and I am also a hostess for my cousin's baby shower this weekend. I am sorry I haven't had anything finished to post, but I will be making up for it next week! I decided to do these aprons for the Grandmothers to wear at the birthday party. I am very happy with how they turned out! I started working on them, around 3:30 or so in the afternoon. It is now 3:30 or so in the MORNING!! I am tired, so this will be a short and sweet post!

I bought an apron at JoAnn's for $1 and pretty much just laid it out over my fabric and cut around it! I am not a perfectionist, as you can probably tell by now! :) I just thought I'd wing it! The birthday girl's "theme" is lollipops. You may remember the hat and bloomers I did for her already. If you would like to see them again, they are in one of the slide shows on the left, or you can go here. So anyway, I thought it would be super cute for the grandmother's to have on aprons since the party is a Sweet Shop theme. I machine monogrammed the lollie and name, on some fabric, then made it a pocket. I decided to use ribbon for the waistband and tie, because it was quick and easy! The most difficult part was the ruffle, of course! I decided to get some practice by using my serger! I only had to pull out the seam ripper once! That is a success for me. :D I have a ruffler foot for my serger, it is pretty neat, you put the fabric that is to be gathered on the bottom. Then the fabric you want to attach it to in the slot that is on "top", for lack of a better word, of the foot. It takes some getting used to, but all in all I really like this option! It is very fast and once you get the hang of it, pretty easy. I did press and top stitch the seam to make it nice and flat. I think they will be very happy with them!

Here is a close-up of the lollie applique, isn't it cute? This is for my SIL's mother. It is what her first grandchild called her, so it will be her "name" from now on! My mother is Grammy.

I also did a bib for the birthday girl, so when she digs into the cake, her dress will stay nice and clean! Another first! I usually just do the monogramming on some vinyl and sew on an absorbent backing, but I have been wanting to try adding clear vinyl to fabric. I had some difficulties at first, but once I smartened up and realized the vinyl was sticking to my presser foot, it all went together easily! I know to use tissue paper when sewing vinyl, but I needed to see my top stitching, so I grabbed a small square of scrap stabilizer and just slowly walked it under the left hand side of my presser foot. A little bit slower than I tend to go, but I got the results I wanted! To achieve this effect, while I was sewing my right sides together with the vinyl sandwiched in, I made sure there was enough excess vinyl sticking out for me to gently pull to make sure it was not too loose. If you pulled too tight, the vinyl distorts. It is also important to make sure there are no stray threads or fuzzies under the vinyl before top stitching the opening closed! I hope this is all making sense, my eyes are starting to close and I still have a few more things to do before I leave in the morning! Hope you all have a great weekend, and if you are getting rain....SEND IT TO ME!! We haven't had any in at least TWO WEEKS!! I'll be back Monday with all of the goodies for the shower...I am "decorating" with my gifts! Until later...