Another Knockoff

 

I will be right up front here. I was watching a sewing video and the designer was featuring a coat pattern and doing a fashion show of happy sewists who modeled her design. The coats were lovely and each quite distinct. They did her pattern great justice. She then spoke about the pattern and of course did a bit of a sales pitch. Then, and I can't remember why, she interrupted all the coat talk with a nod to an apron pattern from years back and showed the envelope and the apron. It was quite unique and it's design was of an Asian influence. It was simple, as most aprons are, and in pretty much a heartbeat I did the famous "I can make that" that all of us sewists have said a thousand times. I did make it. 

The designer is Linda Lee, who I adore, an extremely gifted and knowledgeable sewist and designer. The pattern is the Tamari Apron which she still sells and I recommend. I think like most sewists who have started young and continued for years, I have been inspired by many a designer to give a design a go on my own. I did that here and thank Lee for the inspiration. Because the original design is her's I will not share measurements other than what she mentioned in the youtube video and that was that the base of the apron was a one yard square. I did find the measurements online but won't share those either and I don't think they should have been shared by the company that did. I can tell you I  changed every measurement, including the shape and size of the base apron, This was a bit design decision and a bit "petiting" decision. The straps, pocket, base, and loop are all different from hers and that is because I wanted it more in proportion for my size and scale. I played with shapes too.  I have no idea what her instructions are regarding hem depths, pocket hems, loop fillings, etc. 

Above you can see I did deep hems all around with topstitching and mitered corners.  The wide straps are not as wide as Lee's.  I tried to use fabric with an Asian flavor. A word here and it could just be my taste. In searching these out on the internet I found a lot of people really gilded the lily with this pattern, adding rows and rows of ribbons, wide bands of contrast fabrics  on the hems and the pocket as well. Some added ribbons on top of the straps. These are all great ideas but my personal opinion is that the design is so unique and eye catching that all that foofery detracted from the finished work, just my personal opinion. I say embellish, but just don't overdo it. I can see this in canvas with some fabric painting, what fun!

It is quite unique with it's one shouldered setup. I wasn't even sure I would like it but it was captivating. I used some really nice fabrics from the LQS, 1 1/4 for the base and 3/4 yard for the details. I lined my pocket. 

Still once I tried it on, it's uniqueness made me not sure of how I felt about it. 

In the above photo you can see how the corners of the square hang quite interestingly. The wide strap is flung over the should and then through a loop on the opposite side that sits at the waist. The strap then crosses over and meets a shorter strap on the other side and is tied off in the back. The strap is long. That and the diagonal of the square being on the waistline make this an all size friendly apron with little fussing. 

I brought it upstairs  on the dress form for some photos and husband saw it and LOVED it without any solicitation. He told me it looked like the work aprons of women in Japan in a video he watched on youtube (he loves youtube). Now my plan was that if this worked it would make nice gifts for the women in my family. He thought that would be great. I left my form up overnight and in the morning, somehow she looked better. Her bit of Asian influence had settled in and I came to really appreciate the unique look and closure. Heck, I think I loved Miss Dressform in the Asian Apron. Now to just wait for the quilt fabric sales that come this time of year at the Big Box!!!

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I have cut out those crazy Palmer Pletch chino trousers and they are ready to go on this upcoming long weekend. I have gone back to work and spare moments have been rare. Up here sunshine and warm weather, along with finishing up 90% of our home construction project has allowed us to do some Covid entertaining. What's that you say? My husband and I , much to the happiness and encouragement of our children, have been following quite strict CDC rules to protect ourselves. But, it is still isolating and we love to entertain and cook for our family and friends. Once we got most of the house biz out of the way we took advantage of the severe drought we are in up here. It meant constant sunshine and great weather outside. We brought in family members every weekend to entertain totally outside, two at a time only, and following all the rules. We had four big Adirondack chairs overlooking the lake, a very long picnic table and grill under the trees you see me model under and it was lovely. It almost felt normal. We wanted others with us but all understood the parameters and were thankful for what time and fun we did have together. We had paella  cooked outside, a ribs party and even shrimp burgers on one occasion. It was so great to connect and so tempting to chuck it all  and say to hell with all those masks and bottles of sanitizer, but we won't. I hope you don't either. Now, cooler weather is  setting in and the contractor and heating people will be in next week to get things all tied up and done before winter. I can get back to sewing and am so thankful for the little time we were able to spend with family. I sooooo look forward to more and I am sure you do as well. In the meantime, I am back to sewing and  blogging and more to come. I think it may be a tough winter for us all.  Stay safe all and be careful out there!.....Bunny