Break Time's Over

Sometimes all it takes is a little break from the everyday to get the creative juices flowing again and to find a little inspiration. With each apron I make, I am attempting to create something a little unique. No two aprons are alike is a primary goal. I want to make an apron that someone can fill with memories and (hopefully) one day pass down. I design each apron so it might reflect a particular woman's personal style or sense of whimsey. There is no assembly-line production in my studio. Each apron must be an individual! Here is why....

Imagine, you are a woman who loves her family and wants to create sweet memories that will last for all eternity. What better way to preserve memories than with an apron which can symbolize and recall those precious memories. If a woman is unable to sew, she must rely on someone else to make her an apron. Now, this apron can come from a trendy little overpriced store OR it can be handmade by someone like me. For me, each apron requires a spark of inspiration. I want to somehow connect the apron maker to the apron wearer.

So, on Earth Day I took a short trip over to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center which is very close to my home. This supplied all of the inspiration I will need for a while. For the next little while you can expect to see a lot of floral in my aprons.

Apron Break

The reason I began blogging was to tell the rest of the story about the aprons I make. Today, I break from that pattern because my apron sewing tales are really about what is going on in my life while I am sewing an apron (or in this case NOT sewing an apron). And so the story goes like this...The whole sewing studio reorganization has really upended me. I can find everything and it is within easy reach. For some reason this lack of general messiness has temporarily upset my apron-zen. Yesterday, I was all about aprons and went into my studio to cut and sew my latest creation. I just wasn't feelin' it! I had a special order for some burp cloths which needed doing so I set out to do these AND then get to the apron. After the burp cloths were done, I'm still not in the apron zone. Then it hit me, I needed to do something VERY different. I had these t-shirts that just cried out embroider me! embroider me! Well, I always listen to serendipitous summonings and so the t-shirts (and the sewing fairies) were not to be ignored! Now, my grandson has something fun to wear.

Sewing for little boys is not the same as sewing for little girls. When you read Sew Beautiful you see all of these adorable things that would be so much fun to make for girls while the patterns for boys are something along the lines of Little Lord Fauntleroy! So, wanting to make something masculinely adorable for my grandson, I borrowed (and later purchased) a pattern and whipped up these masculine little John John suits for my grandson. Perfect for hot Texas summers! I hope to be back in the apron zone sometime later today....

Before and After

My husband has the tidiest garage of anyone we know. He has what I call tools and skills. He has built us furniture, recently added a deck, and (at a previous house) built what I called The Garden Mansion (a grandiose storage shed with a porch, three windows, and a porch swing). I'm really not compaining; I know I am a lucky gal!

However, these skills combined with tool ownership and the heart of a neat freak have caused him to be somewhat critical of the way I keep my sewing studio. So, when Saturday rolled around and it was showing signs of raining all day, he descended upon my studio and declared it was getting a storage makeover!

Some things are never as easy as they may seem. The Container Store in Austin is 22 miles from our house and we were prepared with measurements, etc. It took us two days and three trips back and forth to actually achieve a storage system to satisfy any neat freak! I have to admit, I really love what he has done. I truly am the happiest person when I sewing in my little studio...I just hope I can live up to my husband's expectations!

The Funky Chicken

Why did the chicken cross the road? To get an apron, of course! Here in Austin we have this annual event called the Funky Chicken Coop Tour. This tour blends pretty well with the Keep Austin Wierd philosophy of my town. Basically, the FCCT is a tour of homes (or coops) of people who raise a few chickens. This is an acceptable practice (see Keep Austin Wierd) in our city limits as long as your HOA doesn't object. Since my HOA would tar and feather me for trying to put in a chicken coop, I'm not getting my chickens anytime soon. Sadly, I couldn't attend the tour, but it got me thinking about my desire to have a few chickens and this line of thought left me with chickens on the brain. Remembering that I had a bit of chicken-themed fabric in my stash, I knew that this was the time to make an apron that would call out to all chicken lovers. Plus, I could revel in all things chickeny for an a bit.

For more pictures, see my Etsy shop or Flickr

Conversations with Lolita

I'm standing in my kitchen with Lolita taking pictures of her in her Super Sassy Stripey Apron and I ask, "So, Lolita, what should I cook for dinner tonight?"

Lolita's no dummy (well, actually she is, but don't tell her) and she replies, "I don't know, but don't I look really cute in this apron?"

Well, I have to agree, she does look really cute in her apron. Still you can't ever trust a mannequin to give you the best advise on what to make for dinner. However, I have to admit, Lolita does have good taste...and she's beginning to miss Lola!

Shock & Awe!

Shock and Awe are the only words I can use to describe my amazement at the kind words and positive comments from all of my SITStas! So, thanks (I really mean THANKS!!!) to you wonderful SITStas who took time away from Easter egg dying to stop by my humble blog for a short visit. Your sweet messages will remain with me always!

Whew! What a whirlwind weekend. Here's a recap beginning Friday: check blog, fiddle with blog, start the laundry, go to garden center, fight our way into the parking lot, get 3 bags of "fill your own bag" soil, get a truckload of fill dirt, go home, unload dirt from truck, dodge rain, check blog, fiddle with blog, start apron, put chicken in smoker for Sunday, oops! forgot about laundry...run through rinse cycle, help spread mulch and all that dirt, sew a little bit, finally get clothes in dryer, oops! left the iron on...and so it goes...

Saturday: Rinse and Repeat!

It baffles me how my (sweet, generous, and loving) husband says I should focus more on my sewing, that way I will be more productive??? Nevertheless, I did manage, amidst such turmoil, to make an apron I've had in my head all week AND a matching set of kitchen towels. It's posted at the top.

Welcome SITStas

Hi there and thank you for stopping by my little corner of the world. I am honored and blessed to be featured on The Secret is in the Sauce . SITS is a fabulous site that connects SITStas aka women business owners and bloggers. This super site promotes budding businesses and offers tons of encouragement to women everywhere. I know; I'm one of them!

Today, in the Saturday Spotlight I'm giving away the apron (not the daughter!) pictured here. I made this Spring Themed apron especially for the Saturday Spotlight Promotion. If you like this apron, there are others like it at my Etsy store. To see more pictures of this apron, click on the Flickr button to your right.

The inspiration for Sugar Pie Chic began when I found some vintage apron patterns that belonged to my mother. Once in my possession, I reworked the patterns to create something Sassy and Chic. I love pairing these new patterns with fresh new fabrics from designers like Amy Butler, Michael Miller, Alexander Henry, and more. I design and hand-craft all of my aprons one-at-a-time. My goal is to create something that evokes the past while remaining both simple and practical for the woman of today.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So, for all my SITStas, if you are interested in purchasing an apron from my Etsy store I have some good news for you! I am offering to refund the cost of shipping for anyone who purchases from my store through Easter Sunday (April 12th). To receive your refund, put "SITS" or "The Secret is in the Sauce" in the Message to Seller box during checkout.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks for stopping by...I hope we can do this again soon!

Sewing in Sadness

Today, I set out to make a towel set and an apron. I knew I wanted to continue on my path of using what I had and cleaning out some of my stash's overflow (literally)! What I didn't plan for was hearing some grim news about a dear friend whose cancer may have returned. So, as I sat sewing I thought about the sadness and tears that were unavoidably being sewn into the very fabric of these two projects. One day (soon, I hope) someone will purchase either the pair of towels or the apron from my Etsy store ; I hope that the new owners will be able to sew in some joy and happiness!

Cleaning up my studio

I just hate waste! So, when confronted with an ever-increasing supply of leftover fabric from my aprons, it naturally follows that I should turn what is sitting there doing nothing into something useful. It also happens that I have a small stash of natural waffle-weave kitchen towels just begging to be embellished. It doesn't take a genius to connect these dots which leaves me with an addition to my Etsy store: kitchen tea towels!

These are the best towels. They are high quality towels and aren't too linty. I think they would make a nice bridal shower gift or a nice little something extra for Mother's Day. I'm hoping to work through the stash and have some that match existing aprons. Maybe even a pot holder or two is in the works!

Where do I start...

Where do I start? Why do I put a particular fabric with a certain pattern? What is my inspiratation? These answers can be difficult to pin down. I will say that I am always inspired by gardening! Because of this, there is a strong floral theme in most of my aprons. But why pair a certain fabric with a certain design? Sometimes it is a matter of available fabric in my stash. Some aprons use more fabric than others; different patterns require different trims. Factor these together and I get an apron idea.

However, there are fabrics that I just love! These two fabrics fall into this category. While each is different, I love them both the same. The top fabric is from Amy Butler's Lotus collection that has been out a while. I wanted to make this fabric stand out because it is so sensational! The best way to do this is to frame it in a trim (another Amy Butler fabric) and make the the fabulousness of the fabric jump out.

The second fabric is from Amy Butler's Daisy Chain collection. These colors of varying greens combined with gray are just beautiful! While I wanted the beauty of the fabric to stand out, this fabric was much more subtle and needed a softer touch. This made me choose the wavy hem...a bit romantic, a bit nostalgic...combined to give this apron a very soft gardeny feel. It reminds me of a garden after a spring shower!