Sunflower Apron:) McCall's 5366

   Hello sewing friends!:) May I present my latest project (finished last night): this Sunflower apron.

   Notice I didn't say "my" apron, because it's not for me. Rather, I made it as a prize for my upcoming baby shower at Mom's:) I figure most people like sunflowers, so I thought it was a safe bet. I chose a simple pattern that I already had in my stash, McCall's "Easy stitch'n save" #5366. I made some modifications in that I lined the apron with some green fabric, and made the back ties a bit wider.

     I must point out that I didn't purchase the fabric from Fabricville, but from another local fabric store, Marlene's Sewing Bee. It's a small independent fabric store that sells mostly cotton prints. The owners are very nice & knowledgable. They have quite a selection & I was happy to find this good quality print almost immediately.

     For once I'm not modelling my sewing project, I decided to let my new sewing buddy, Diana, do it this time.

        Yes, that's right, I got a "Diana" dress form!!!!!!! AHHH!!! Can you tell I'm excited?;) My wonderful mother-in-law bought it for me at the thrift store she works at. I don't think it even made it to the sales floor! She said this is the first time a dress form has been donated, and she snatched it up right away (gotta love in-laws that support my sewing habit;)

    In all seriousness, I am super-grateful for this dress form, and I've already used it a bunch:) Thanks Gina!! xoxo

   This was a pretty simple project, but I thought I would share a few photos showing how I lined the

apron. It was very easy. I sewed on the patch pockets and basted the neck straps & waist ties on the sunflower fabric. I cut a second main apron pattern piece from the green broadcloth.

  

   I basically just sewed all around the perimeter of the apron, leaving a small section near the corner (but sewing the corner!) for turning.

   Here by the top of the apron, I sewed a line of stitching where, if I would've sewn an unlined apron, the fold line would've been.

  Here to the right and below, showing where I clipped and graded corners of the apron.

    Once I turned the apron right-side-out, I pressed & pinned it around the edges  and topstitched with green thread.

      I sewed an extra row of topstitching where the opening for turning was. I don't think anyone will notice. Well, if they read this blog post, I'm sure they'll look for it now!;)

    Again, here's the lovely Diana modelling the finished apron:) She'll be of great help with my upcoming jacket project that I am SUPER-DUPER excited about (I know I sound like a kid, but I can't help it!:). 

    Last week (on my Birthday:) I ordered the popular Minoru jacket pattern from Vancouver-based Sewaholic Patterns. This pattern has gotten a ton of reviews on P.R, and on plenty of blogs as well. Tasia, founder of Sewaholic Patterns, even hosted a sewalong on her blog. I read through all the past posts, and she really does a great job walking you through every step of the jacket. It looks very doable. I am SO excited to make one (or two ;)! I've been wanting to make a jacket for quite a while and this looks like a winner!:)

Here is a link to the Minoru jacket pattern:)

  Happy sewing all!