Plain
and
Fancy
Needlework
Apron Lore
Practical Suggestions About the Housewife's Best Friend
are many things worth knowing about
THERE
aprons, such as the choice of a material to
suit the purpose for which they will be worn, the
selection of a pattern for beauty or for speed in
sewing, the kind and location of pockets and trimming, and the ease or difficulty of washing and
ironing the protecting garment.
A farmer's wife, who has much laundry work
to do, has evolved a very clever idea. She makes
kitchen aprons for herself and daughters from unbleached linen towelling, using two widths for the
skirt, cut straight, with a few gathers at the belt
and a small bib above. This gray or tan towelling
wears for years, does not soil easily, is of a weave
to wash easily without rubbing or boiling or
starching, and is also easy to iron.
A Utility P a t t e r n
of apron used by butchers, one
THEstripSTYLE
of wide, heavy white muslin or linen,
slightly shaped at the top to make a bib, and fastened by tapes at neck and hips, has many merits
for kitchen use. It is extremely simple to make,
can be boiled safely, and lies flat for ironing. If
you send out your laundry, the merits of this
simple apron again appear, for, folded flat, it goes
between the rolls of a mangle, and the charge is
about a penny, while the ironing of starched,
shaped aprons may cost five to ten cents, because
hand-ironing is required.
A waterproof apron of oilcloth or rubber, cut
by the simple butcher's pattern, while not pretty,
is very serviceable, especially on wash day. The
wide cloth is cut in one piece and the cut edges
are bound with a bias fold of muslin. A damp
cloth easily cleanses such an apron.
A very pretty, durable
and inexpensive afternoon apron is made of a
good quality of unbleached muslin cut with
a circular skirt of about
knee length, being a little
longer in the middle
front and sloping upward at the sides. For a
slender woman the bib
coming up over the
shoulders and spreading
out into a shaped "bert h a " is remarkably becoming. A stout woman
could use the same material, but should choose
a pattern with decided
up-and-down lines instead. The charm of
this creamy muslin apron
is in its finish at all edges
with a two-inch facing
on the right side, using
bias strips of cream and
blue plaid gingham. AnTHIS APRON LOOKS LIKE
p r e t t y facing
PART O F T H E D R E S S I F M A D E other
would be bands of creOF T H E SAME MATERIAL
tonne having small flowers upon a cream background.
Why Not Make Attractive Aprons?
is an apron not an apron? When it is a
W HEN
dress. An "all-over" apron of calico, percale,
gingham or chambray, with large armholes or
with short kimono sleeves, is the best protector of
a nice dress in winter. It may be cut to hang
straight from neck to toe, with two buttons in the
back; or, it may be belted in at the waist by a
casing holding an elastic band; it may be held in,
in empire style, under the arms, with ribbon run
through an embroidery beading; or it may be
semi-fitted, opening at the side front with a very
wide under-lap and closing with two large buttons, one at the top, a second at the belt. With
this latter model, since the wide lap keeps the
skirt of the apron closed, the housedress may be
dispensed with on hot summer days, wearing the
apron over an old white shirtwaist.
Some housekeepers manage to look very neat
shaped skirt. Wide, curved straps rise from the
belt line in the back, cross, then button to the
front bib on the shoulders. There are two large
pockets.
If ornament is desired a medallion with the
wearer's initial in washable blue or pink thread
can be set at the upper part of the bib and a narrow edging, crocheted of the same thread, can be
used on the pockets. This apron is very pretty,
but owing to its size and shape, and the fact that
all its curving edge must have a shaped facing, it
requires more time in making than the others
described.
The very simplest apron imaginable for kitchen
wear is a straight strip of gingham or other material, merely one width, with a three-inch hem at
each end. A yard, to a yard and a half will do,
depending upon your height and upon whether
you wish the belt at the waist or under the arms.
There is not even a belt to make! With both
hems alike either end can be used for the spring
steel ribbon belt, curved to the lines of the figure,
and slipped easily into the hem just as you put a
rod through a sash curtain. The belt is adjustable to either a targe or slender waist. The only
sewing is stitching the two hems and the apron is
ironed flat as easily as a towel.
If the apron pocket be set at the left instead
of the right it is less likely to catch upon knobs
and projections. Another means of protecting it
from tearing is to set it beneath the apron, instead of upon the outside, and to open it by a
K E E P A F R E S H A P R O N AT H A N D TO W E A R W H E N
lengthwise slit faced back at the seam.
COOKING
A hint about ironing aprons may not be out of
by making full-length aprons, shaped to the place. If you will always press a straight crease
figure by darts or gores, of material the same as down the entire length of the middle of the front
the dress with which it is worn. Such an the apron can be more smoothly folded for laying
apron appears to be a part of the dress.
it away and it will hang better when worn.
Another pretty apron idea is to make the houseWhere economy is necessary the back of a
dresses of striped, checked or figured material and man's shirt, discarded because of being worn at
to make the aprons of plain goods in colors to neck and sleeves, will make a small apron for a
match, as a pink and white gingham dress with a woman or one large enough to protect completely
pink gingham or chambray apron.
the dress of a little girl.
Black sateen is as serviceable for a sewing apron
A small sewing apron of black cloth will lessen
or for afternoon wear in the home as it has proven eyestrain when doing fine hand-sewing or emfor the business woman in her store or office. broidery requiring close attention, for the black
It sheds dust well and, requiring no starch, is easy forms a strongly contrasting background for work
to iron.
held in or above the lap.
For Serving Tea
Some cooks claim that the best apron to wear in
the kitchen is one with a
VERY pretty white apron for afternoon wear,
ruffle across the bottom,
large enough to protect a nice dress fully, or
as the ruffle stands out
to cover up a rumpled one if one be called unexand flour or l i q u i d
pectedly to answer the doorbell, is cut on a model
spilled upon the apron
and running downward
much favored for classroom use in cooking
are deflected and thrown
schools. It is full length, shaped along princess
outward instead of soillines, the bib being cut as a continuation of the
ing hem of the dress skirt
exposed below the apron.
A Simple Frock for S u m m e r
A
how fashionable the old-time
D IDfichuYOUhasknow
become? Just a yard or two of
white net, wide at the back and narrowing to
points at the front is the foundation. The edge
of this is finished with an inch-wide frilled or
plaited net; another row follows this outline
about two inches from the edge. Make a simple
frock of dark-colored voile or dimity with plain
bodice and straight full skirt. The fichu will
trim the waist; around the skirt, at the hip line,
run two rows of the plaited net, about three or
four inches apart and with the frilled edge standing up. As for the sleeves—they may be snug
and short with a turn-back cuff of the net. But
the bell-shaped sleeves are very popular now.
When you buy a ready-made dress you can
spend a few minutes to good advantage finishing
it up before its first wearing. The manufacturers
pay a very small sum for the sewing on of buttons,
hooks and eyes, or snaps, and the girls who do the
work cannot afford to do it well. Often buttons
are lost in the first wearing and one cannot get
duplicates to match them. Moreover, after trying on the dress, you may find it wise to alter
slightly the location of some of the fastenings.
Frequently there are broken threads causing rips
that should be sewed up at once and often the
seams are fringed and need trimming to be neat.
THE EASIEST APRON
TO DO U P , A N D
T H E QUICKEST TO DON
IS M A D E L I K E T H E
CHECKED ONE
TWO S E R V I C E A B L E STYLES TO
W E A R FOR L I G H T W O R K
A clothespin apron of ticking or denim, tied
with a belt at the waist and with the bottom
turned up to form two pockets, is a helpful friend
on Monday.
Avis GORDON VESTAL.