Laura has made this super cute apron using Summer Meadow from the new quilting cotton collection – Riviera. How cute is this? I LOVE the use of the gingham bias with the ditsy Liberty quilting cotton print.
Laura tells us about the project. “This print is lovely Summer Meadow from the Riviera Quilting Cotton collection in which Liberty explores British sea-side nostalgia. Summer Meadow is a delicate botanical that was based on a hand-painted artwork originally created in 1934. A medley of loosely outlined meadow flowers including primroses, daisies, foxgloves and bell flowers dance across its pretty surface. This is the C colourway, which uses buttery yellow and warm orange blooms along with soft green leaves, pale dusty blue and super soft pink flowers to compliment. The colour palette is just so warm and hazy to me, despite not having any childhood British coastal adventures to reminisce about, this print makes me imagine a sea-side meadow at sunrise. Probably somewhere totally romantic and evocative, not that I can think of where that may be so you’ll have to come up with the setting for me. There are two other colourways of Summer Meadow, A is fun reds, blues and yellows, while B features candy pinks, yellows and warm greens for a sweeter look. They are all lovely but C definitely had my heart for its warm retro vibes. I knew I wanted to use it for something, it was too pretty not to. However, holding the fabric up in the mirror I was horrified to discover that it didn’t actually suit me. Oh dear, oh dear, what to do now?!?”
“Just like Liberty Tana Lawn®, Liberty Quilting Cotton is 100% cotton, soft and smooth to touch, the quality is high and the print is always crisp and clean with great colour. It differs in that is has less drape and is slightly more weighty. It is still a fantastic fabric to make garments with, I have done so in the past and follow many makers on Instagram who regularly use Liberty Quilting Cotton for dresses. But alas, I couldn’t make my usual dress, it looked terrible on me (life truly is cruel). Luckily, the qualities of quilting cotton make it absolutely perfect for sewing things such as bags, lightly used upholstery, and of course, aprons! I can wear an apron almost every day, virtually nobody else will see it but I will and that is what matters. An apron it shall be!”
“I have vague memories of my Great Nanna cooking and hanging the laundry in a smock-style apron. I want to say her apron was green with a yellow trim but I could be completely making that up, or maybe I’ve just seen a photo of her in one. Anyway, the point is Great Nanna Tottie was a major style icon and I long to be her when I grow up so if she maybe wore a smock apron at some point in her life that means it’s a winner! This super cheap 60s style apron pattern from Etsy was exactly the sort of thing I was looking for: Apron Pattern. It was pretty fast to print and stick the pattern together at home plus it was a super easy project to sew. I would definitely recommend using this pattern if you wish to make an apron, it only used 90cm worth of the 44” wide fabric. Winning!”
“The yellow gingham binding makes an extra feature of the pocket and neck openings. It would have been nice to use the same binding around the entire outside edge of the apron but unfortunately I only had a limited supply. Note: Must invest in more gingham binding! It also would have been possible to add a lace trim or ruffles around the edge but I opted for a cleaner look on this occasion. Instead it is simply overlocked around the edge, then turned under to the wrong side and topstitched. The quilting cotton takes direction very well so even forming the hems curves were a breeze. If this were a dress or a blouse, I would have taken the time to turn the raw edge over again to hide the overlocking stitches, but as this is an apron I didn’t feel the need. As hard as I may try to keep it pristine, I just know I’ll wind up splattering tomato paste all over the front like a bloody murder scene. That’ll be it, pretty fabric stained for ever and a day! I bet it’ll happen the first time I wear it. I bet I won’t even be cooking with tomato paste when it happens.
But you know what, I’ve just gotta get over that because it is an apron! It was made to be used and abused and covered with sticky-smeared hand prints of teriyaki stir-fry dinners and chocolate cake bakings past. Gotta give the washing machine something to do after all. And anyway, I’m grateful to this apron, and all aprons, for performing their noble duty: Protection. For most aprons this is their sole duty, but not a Liberty apron oh no, a Liberty apron is blessed with 2 life purposes: 1. Protection, and 2. Being cute and/or aesthetic as hell! Great Nanna would have loved it and that is all I ever hope for ????”
