Frills and Flounces

My niece has outgrown her old apron and her mom said she likes things that are very girly, which to me means ruffles.  I detest making things with gathering stitches, because I am not very good at it and the thread always rips mid-gather, yet I keep subjecting myself to this task.  So, of course, I chose a pattern that had five rows of ruffles.  I like to torture myself, I think.

In the end, it was not as bad as I thought it would be and none of the stitches broke.  

After I made this, I thought that this was the prettiest apron I've ever made.  I love how it all came together.  I was savvy enough to plan a centered floral motif on the bib.  I was very proud of myself for that bit of foresight.  The bib fabric, the green, the white, and the pink ruffles were all from the Textile Center Garage Sale.  Everything was on hand, which was great.  

Ruffles:

And I got to use my serger...

Since this was relatively easy, I decided to torture myself with two more of these aprons for my own girls.  I've actually never made them any aprons.  I feel like my focus is always on things for other people at Christmas, so I was glad to squeeze these two in.  I made them both on Christmas Eve - when I was feeling pretty nauseous.  I really don't know how I managed to do it.

For Miss Trix:

 So pretty!   This pattern really is perfect.   One of the tricks to making this go quicker was to use the same color thread throughout.  It takes too much time to change threads and bobbin colors all the time.  I also used the selvedges as much as possible and didn't have to hem some of the fabrics.

 I can't decide if the gray is a bunch of falling leaves or falling feathers.  I think leaves?  It's vintage and it also came from the Textile Center Garage Sale.

For Z, I chose a remnant that was also picked up at the Textile Center Garage Sale for the bib, a flounce, and the neck ties.  It was oddly shaped and really wasn't going to be good for much, but it worked out for this.

This apron is so pretty, as well.  The white polka dots also came from that Garage Sale.  The black polka dots I've had forever and actually made a dress out of (that I have since donated to the Goodwill).  None of the oranges match -- from the strawberries to the dots on the white to the orange flounce.  Oh well.  

I think I could have planned the bib placement a little better.  That snippet of white between the black stripe and the waistband is awkward.

Final ruffles!  See what I mean about the oranges?  

So there you go.  Three aprons.  Do you have a favorite?