Apronology

 

My grandmother always wore an apron. Usually she wore the kind that covered the top and bottom of her house-dress. I don’t believe that it would have occurred to her to go around without one.

When it was time to go outside and walk around the neighborhood where she might be seen, she would slip it over her head and hang it on a hook. When she came inside after her walk, she put it on again. It wasn’t until the dinner dishes were washed and dried that she took it off for the night.

The best aprons had big pockets. Pockets held clothespins and a cloth to wipe the clothesline, odds and ends that needed to be put in their proper place, pins for hair, garden gloves, tissues for your nose or for the noses of children and little treasures which children brought to you during the day. Sometimes the pockets just felt good to relax tired hands.

 

Let’s talk about the aprons.

Most of the aprons are for children. It takes so little fabric to make an apron. I already have some little people in mind to wear them. Then, there is the toy room with its dishes and oven and fridge and frequent tea parties. I have a hook for them in there.

All of the aprons, large and small, are made from old-fashioned retro fabrics.

My favorite grown-up apron is this one:

I am going to hang this one with my other aprons and use it. Use it and get it dirty and wash it. I simply love the vibrant colors.

I have a favorite book, which I re-read now and then. It is wonderful. It is a compilation of biographical sketches by granddaughters about their grandmothers. Their memories have to do primarily with food and kitchens and aprons and old-fashioned things.

 

When we gather as a family this summer, I think I’ll let the apron-lovers of the family choose their favorites and wear them to dinner and take them home.

That is the pleasure of sewing and the reward.

 

 

 

“Every bird loves his own nest.”

– Old Saying –