When it’s a cool rainy day in the ‘Ville and a woman’s read all her library books, decided that folding laundry is a task that can be put off almost indefinitely, and is wearied of watching the weeds grow, what’s a girl to do? Well, work through her fabric stash and bring another apron into the world, of course!
I’ve been sewing reversible aprons for years, even though it involves two yards of fabric instead of one. For one thing, sewing a seam and turning the apron inside out is easier than all that edge finishing involved in a single layer apron. For two, you get an apron that can avoid the washing machine by a factor of two. And best of all, for a person who adores prints and design as much as I do, you get two separate looks, and I get the fun to riff on themes, trims and general apron couture goofiness.
Mary Mulari is, best I know, the inventor of the reversible apron, and a pattern of Mary’s I bought in a quilting shop in Galena, Illinois when I was visiting my sister in law, was the inspiration for my fascination for the genre. More about Mulari here: http://www.marymulari.com/
And for awhile I was content to make aprons with witty, pretty versos. But then, and I think this is my idea, I considered doing a kind of masculin/feminin thing: A pretty girly fabric and trim on one side and a Guy print on the other. A couples’s apron? A Bi apron? Neither of those terms worked for me, soI’m gonna go with Yin/Yang apron.
The fun amusing fabric-shopping outcome of this was finding macho cotton prints. Who knew there were so many? Cowboys, John Deere, NASCAR, Guitar Hero, golf.
John Deere.
Today it was NASCAR — I cut off the supermodel’s head because Willow was demanding to get into the picture:
And cupcakes:
Bonus pic of the Greta Garbo of cats: Ajax in the herb garden:
I realize this penchant for girl/guy prints and reversible aprons is just one of those Maggie Things — a brain worm.
But it satisfies me in so many ways .
Cheap and Cheerful 