Scraps from the Past: 1960s Gingham Apron

The pattern: Butterick 2515, from 1963, featuring two styles of smocked apron with a detachable bib and smocked cafe curtains, sewn from checked gingham fabric. Charming and very popular back in the 1960s!

The scrap: Tucked inside this envelope was a scrap of black and white checked cotton gingham fabric. I think the original sewist took her inspiration from the envelope cover! I love the variations in smocking the apron, and the cafe curtains look inspiring too.

In Search of Style - Apron Inspirations!

The pattern: Tucked inside this very charming apron pattern, Simplicity 1359, were a couple of large sheets of folded paper. What could they be?

What's inside: What a treasure - it's apron heaven! The sheets of paper (one extra large) were filled with images of hand-drawn aprons! They look like they were most likely traced from mail order pattern offerings in the newspapers. Isn't this a completely delightful and diverse collection? 

A couple of the aprons have the pattern number written next to them, and a few are identified as 1-yd aprons. It would be fun to find all the patterns for these aprons. I love how our mystery sewist focused on the ornamentation details and fabric choices. 

The extra large sheet required two scans to get all the images. There are so many cute aprons illustrated on these sheets, I don't think I could pick just one favorite, I would have to sew a full collection. Wouldn't you? :)

In Search of Style: Aprons for the Bazaar!

Not too long ago I posted this wonderful pattern from Advance and 1960, which features four charming, themed hostess aprons. It sold relatively quickly, and it is easy to see why.

Tucked inside the pattern was this clipping, with a tip for "Step-Saver Aprons".  By adding a pocket for things "To Put Away" and another pocket for things "To Throw Away", you save a housewife many steps. :)

With its generous pockets, the apron is similar to the gingham apron and the cobbler aprons illustrated on the pattern. Note that the tip describes making the aprons to sell for $2 each! Those are 1960 prices. :) I do believe you could get more if you are sewing for your local community or church bazaar!