Aprons

My Nanny always wore an apron.   The apron might have been butcher style with a full bib but it was always a pretty  cotton trimmed with colour binding.  I remember shopping with my Mom for apron fabric.  My Mom would sew aprons for Nanny as Christmas, her birthday and Mother`s Day gifts.  After all what would you give a woman who has everything including me as a grandchild.

Nanny preferred small floral prints in soft colours.   An apron was practical.  It was where you wiped your hands after making pie dough, or what you used to wipe the tears of a child who just skinned her knee.   The pocket was a great place to keep the money for the milk man or a handful of cloves, to chew on.

I found this beauty at the local thrift shop.   At first I thought the trim was plastic but a closer look revealed it was cross stitching over cotton rick rack worked on the 
gingham.  Can you imagine the amount of hours spent on making this  apron.  This technique is also called chicken scratch, depression embroidery, tenneriffe lace, snowflake embroidery or lace, gingham lace, or Amish embroidery.  With three or four types of stitches – the running stitch, the cross stitch, the double cross stitch, the threaded running stitch, talented hands could make beautiful patterns on simple gingham.

Thinking of making a chicken scratch apron, check out this site.   Need more pictures, go here.