Thursday, April 23, 2009

Flirty Apron Swap

So Tuesday I finally sent the apron to my swap partner, Jennifer, in Canada! I was very pleased with the final outcome, and I've asked her to send me a photo of her in it. Hopefully she'll oblige. Here is what I started with:


The rooster was the lucky find at the Goodwill. I went there hoping to find some sort of rooster image. Jennifer had indicated to me that her kitchen is decorated in a country/rooster theme. When I think "country," I think tans and dark reds and greens. So I started searching through all the linens and found 2 pillow cases, 3 sets of napkins, a table runner, and finally, at the very last minute, a lone placemat with a rooster on it! Hooray!


I wanted the apron to be "flirty" more than anything, and I feel I've achieved that. The stripes emulate feathers of a rooster to me.


A challenge for me was the size. Without a pattern, I've never made something for anyone else, and Jennifer indicated she was a size or two bigger than me, so I couldn't really use myself as a model. Luckily, I have a couple co-workers who were willing to model for me, and the apron looked so much better on them than it did on me. Nothing like clothes that fit!


This is the back, with extra long ties:


The apron swap has been a lot of fun. If you click on the button to the right, you can see all the other amazing creations that other women around the world made. There are some amazing ones and some well, interesting ones. But each one of them was made with love, and is a work of art in its own right.

Too, I've met a new online friend, Tara, through this swap! She is another artist in Fort Collins and I hope to have a chance to meet her in person at some point. Her blog is called Tinkerfrog, and at this very moment, she is having a really cool giveaway. Check out her blog and post a comment to be entered to win her excellent assortment of fabric. Do it soon, as her giveaway ends on April 30th!

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Gettin' ready to swap

Tonight I have no final products to show you, but the workings of final products, indeed! This weekend was about getting down to business. Tuesday is the postmark deadline for our International Card Swap, and a week from Monday is the postmark deadline for the Flirty Apron Swap I'm participating in online (click on button to the right to learn more). So this weekend, I designed. After much experimenting, I finally came up with a card design I'm satisfied with. Rather than spoil the surprise entirely and post my prototype on the blog, I thought I'd post the ingredients, since today was all about making each one so that I can put them all together assembly line-like in the next couple days. One of my favorite things is that the base is fabric, cut from a second-hand pillow case I found at the Goodwill this weekend for a dollar. Fan-cy!


The Flirty Apron Swap is a challenge to make a fun apron for a complete stranger, re-using old linens. Thus the trip to Goodwill this weekend. Indeed, for only about $7, I found all my materials. Below is how I envision it:


That's all I'll say for now, though, just in case my partner happens upon my blog for some reason (it's supposed to be a secret from her until she receives it in the mail).


I look forward to showing you the final outcomes soon! Till then, check out my sister's new photography blog, A Journey in Photography, and take care.