It has pockets!

Among my recent wardrobe additions, there is one item what wasn't planned, and what I ended up loving to bits! It has pockets, it was sewn with no fabric wasted. It's utterly ridiculous, a pain in the eyes  to look at for a longer period of time and utterly practical. An apron :-)

Let's start at the beginning, shall we? I needed a gardening apron for our Weimar vacation, and I left the bag with the gardening tools and my sturdy apron at home.

Nope, that's not quite the beginning...

It all started last year, during our visit to the old cemetery in Weimar, where we were on one hand delighted to 'meet' so many good acquaintances, but also sad about the neglected graves. Weeds everywhere, hardly a flower, and too few people actually acknowledged who was laid to rest there.

Fast forward some months, and the wonderful Sabine was in correspondence with her Weimar Contact about the idea: "how about we'd pop by and do some gardening?" 

The idea was approved, and Mr Archivist scouted for some of the sites in need of attention, he updated Sabine, who then updated us. Keep your eyes peeled, I am sure Sabine has plenty more to tell about the project, and it is actually her story to tell, I was just a happy gardener that day :-)

Back to more recent times and the apron. Monsieur and I arrived in Weimar, and while I was unpacking, I noticed that we were one bag short. Did I lose it while changing transportation? Luckily my neighbour put me at ease, I just left it at home.

On Thursday we ladies went strolling and shopping in Weimar, and in a fabric store next to St Peter and Paul I bought 1.10m of hideously cheery checked cotton gingham.

I cut the apron with as little waste as possible (the only waste was me correcting the slightly curved cut by the fabric vendor), started sewing, and had a finished apron on Friday.

The bib is pinned on, the sites are somewhat pleated to fit (both sides to the same length), the string goes once round and is tied in front (because the back of my dress is too high for me to tie it comfortably myself... ahem... well... I've never said fashion would make sense, did I?)

The leftovers from the 'Bib' cutting were sewn together to form deep pockets.

I attached the pockets rather highly, what at first annoyed me, but proved very useful, as it prevented any contents from falling out, and I was happily wearing my apron for non-gardening activities as well instead of carrying a réticule. Because it has Pockets :-) I love pockets :-)

I was wearing it over my new print dress ( a dress what was also very 'easy' on the eye), because that dress features buttons on the back to prevent the apron strings from slipping.

I'll attach a measly diagram on how I cut the apron. I don't claim it to be 'authentic', but I liked the lack of wasted fabric and it did give me the look I wanted to have. It's not a "Tutorial" but if it helps anyone to come up with something similar, I am more than happy :-)

My little cutting diagram. I didn't measure much, the bib width and height was established by
holding the fabric in front of me and eyeing the approximative size. (It is centered though)

Some inspiration, what I've had in my head. I didn't do much research, I just went into a fabric store and used whatever information my brain had stashed away to go shopping. I went for the crazy blue gingham, because I've seen blue aprons, because the gingham would hide many stains and because I love weird fabric combinations.

http://www.britishmuseum.org/collectionimages/AN00100/AN00100883_001_l.jpg
POCKETS!! those are fancy with a drawstring. Mine are just normal flat pockets though.

With a bib, and the strings tied at the front:
http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b85624941/f25.item.hl

The finished result. We were waiting for Sabines contact, and while doing so, Suzanne was keeping busy with sewing, and I spooled some thread for her. You can somewhat see the pocketses :-)

Working, with Sabine and Suzanne.

I don't have many pictures of the apron worn, after all, we were there to work, not to have a photoshooting, but you can see how the side pleats give me ample room to move. The site is a re-burial of remains recovered during an archaeological dig at St. Peter & Paul, and is now resting place to several hundred individuals from the last 600 years. Among also some fallen Soldiers from Jena 1806 and later some French from Leipzig in 1813. 
Weimar is a fantastic place to visit, we discover something new each year, and history (also recent history) can be found at every step you'd take.