Ta dahhhhhhhhh....(subtitle - the war and peace of the construction of aprons)

Many coffees and cans of diet coke later (Jogirl how do you manage to drink the latter it tastes so well um... blurgh) I finally finished these cotton picken god darn Domo aprons.


Overall I am pretty happy with them. In particular Little B's apron. I think it looks a lot like the little guy. I feel a real sense of accomplishment. Like I have banished the demons who lurked and taunted me during my year 10 sewing class (well until next time anyway).

Admittedly I have not photographed the back of either of the aprons. The backs are extremely messy. I would have liked the torso of Mr B's apron to be longer and the legs shorter.

As a gal who is no stranger to drama finishing them turned into a teeny weeny ordeal.

Despite my best laid plans I only managed to finish up these babies this morning. After going to bed at 1.00am and then getting up at 5.00am I finished them at about 9.30am. (Which is just as well as I had a haircut booked for 10.00am, in laws to see for lunch, a bike to collect at 2.00pm, coffee to have with girlfriends at 2.30 and a party to be at by 4.00pm)

I worked hard all week to leave myself all day yesterday (Friday)to finish up sewing them. The weather forecast was cold and wet. I thought a perfect day to hibernate with my mate the sewing machine. (I think I need to name him, at least I think it is a him.....maybe I could call him Barry in honour of the sewing machine man..although it would probably be weird when I take Barry to be serviced by Barry.. "here Barry, take care of my dear old Barry" I would have to say. Barry (the man) would probably think I was most strange... or ask me out on a date..eeek.... sorry sorry sorry... I digress).

Yesterday morning came, I got up and dyed my hair. For some reason it was really important to me that I sit at the machine with my hair all nice and shiny and coloured. Hair colour everywhere in the bathroom. In the white grout of the tiles. On the sink. On the toilet seat. So I had to clean the mess up before I could do anything further.

I then headed off to my local spotlight with the intention of just dropping in to purchase some appropriate buttons for the eyes on Mr B's apron as we had not been able to find anything big enough anywhere else. Second mistake of the day. One never goes to spotlight "just" for one thing! I arrived at 9.00am got in there when it was dead quiet but still an hour later I emerged with metres and metres of fabric and plans to make bibs, aprons, pram muffs, a replica of the Eiffel tower.....oh and yes some buttons which could be covered in fabric for the eyes.

(To be fair it is sale time and I only bought fabrics which were marked down to $2 a metre).

So I lost most of the morning in the black hole of spotlight, got home, sat down, checked my email and saw that a lady was offering fabric and linen for nothing on freecycle. I put my hand up for that lot, lucky enough to "win it" so next thing you know I was back in the car heading out in the pouring rain to collect. It was well worth it she handed over some lovely stuff including a brand new King sized doona cover and very nice Laura Ashley doona cover too.

When we got home Little B started his daily misery crawl, which generally occurs between the hours of 3 and 6 whereby Little B literally cannot be comforted and if put down crawls around wailing mumumumumumumum for no apparent reason. So 10 stories, an orange, a playschool video, dinner and bath later I still had not started.

I was poised at the machine at 7.00pm when Mr B called to request a chauffeur ride from the train station. So off Little B and I went to get him. In the cold pouring rain again.

I got started at about 8.00pm.

To be honest I am not really sure what happened. Things were going along swimmingly until about 9.00pm. I was feeling really good about everything. The machine and I were working well together. A bit after 9 I finished up the machine sewing and I slowed considerably.

First issue arose when Mr B asked me if I could stuff the arms on his apron. I really did not want to as I was worried it would weigh it down and ruin the line of it. We had a bit of a tiff about it. Eventually I relented. After all it is his apron. Then we argued about what to stuff the darn things with. Eventually we compromised on newspaper.

Second issue arose when we came to cover the buttons. Mr B kept proclaiming they were a bit tough. We got there in the end after I read the blooming instructions to him. What is it about men and instructions???

Precious time kept wasting away.

Final issue of the night was the legs on Mr B's apron. I had not cut a pattern for them. By the time I got to the legs it was about midnight and that stage I was thinking "all I need to do is cut the legs and sew them and then I am finished this one". I fleetingly reasoned with myself. "Leave it to the morning, cut it when you are fresh." Then promptly ignored myself. Without measuring I cut the apron. And it was a cut which has probably limited Domo's ability to father children. That's right people, I cut Domo too far up in the crotch which in my view at that time totally stuffed up the look of the whole thing.

A major meltdown ensued. All I could see was that horrible pair of shorts I buggered up in year 10 sewing class. I could not be placated. Despite many assurances from Mr B I was ready to post my sewing machine on freecycle right there and then.

Eventually I got to bed. Slept fitfully and got up at 5.00am. Mr B very thoughtfully (as in I think my wife will leave me by 6.00am if I don't get up now) got up with me, and again reassured me he was happy with it as is. So I kept on trucking and finished both aprons up.

The final seam sewing was very fiddly. I had sewed everything inside out and then turned him the right way in. I found it rather hard to make my hand stitching look like it had been machine stitched inside out.

Little B's apron is a bit too big for him. I have however used velcro as the fastener on the neck and waist bands so I can adjust it. At the moment it doubles as a nice warm blankie for him.

So there you have it.

You are very observant in noticing that I am sitting here posting and am not at the party.

You see, the housewarming was scheduled to start at 4.oopm. Our host who is a good friend of Mr B's lives on the other side of town which is conservatively about an hour's drive away. The deal was Mr B, Little B and I would get there at 4.00, have a couple of hours there then I would bring Little B home so he could get into bed by 7.30 which is his normal bedtime. Mr B was going to stay the night.

Just as we were about to leave we received a call from our host who advised he was going to be...drumroll........

.... late ... for .... his .... own ....party....

Which meant that by the time I got there I would have fed Little B and come straight home to put him to bed. So only Mr B and Big Domo have gone to the party tonight. A bit of a bummer.

But mostly ok as I am pooped and want to get to bed at a reasonable hour so I will be fresh for the Eastlink ride in the morning - yay!

And it meant I got lots of cuddles from little B and little domo.



I hope your weekend has been at least as good as mine so far!! Pray for sunshine over Eastlink between 9am and 12 midday tomorrow and otherwise enjoy your Sunday!