Monday, April 6, 2015

Grandma's Recipe Apron




Wouldn't it be wonderful to have your grandmother's
favorite recipe as a keepsake that you could actually
use and keep her memory alive and close?

Most of us have fond memories of treasured memories
that waft into the recesses of our minds.  I was just 2 
when I remember coming into my 
grandmother's farmhouse kitchen
and looking up with the big eyes of a child 
and asking for a cookie that was fresh
off the pan.

 To my little mind it seemed
to be the biggest cookie ever that she handed down to
her little grandchild.  My grandmother passed away
just after I turned two, that is how I know how young
I was in this vivid memory.

 Later, I asked my aunt if Grandma had ever
made giant sugar cookies.  I didn't know if she had or
if it was my own small size that made the cookies seem
so big in the memory of a little two year old.  

Yes, she told me, Grandma had a special sugar cookie
she made that was of extraordinary size.  That aunt went on
to create many, many memories in the kitchen for us and
my mother also.  To have one of their recipe cards with
their personal handwriting is a treasure, but now you can
turn that treasure into wearable, useable art.

My niece approached me and asked me to help her friend
design and sew two aprons, 
one for her mother and one for her mother-in-law 
with recipes from their own mothers printed on fabric
from their hand written recipe cards.


I instantly fell in love with this keepsake.  
Spoonflower.com is the wonderful company
that will turn your recipe cards or whatever design
you desire into fabric.  They advertise that it is 
custom print on-demand and no minimum order.
You can design fabric, wallpaper or gift wrap and
having seen the final product, I am very impressed.

Kaylee had ordered 1 yard each of a heavy cotton.
The price at the time she ordered it was about $25
a yard.  I thought that was very reasonable.
You can see that the recipe card is repeated throughout
the fabric.  We decided that we wanted the title of
the card to be front and center and we didn't want too many
ruffles to cover up the recipe and handwriting so I just
added a ruffle at the bottom to make it more feminine.

Using a butcher's apron as a pattern, I cut the body of
the apron out, then serged and turned over and hemmed
all of the edges.  Measuring the bottom edge, I doubled the
length and made a 5 inch ruffle for the bottom hem.  This
also had the edges serged.  After gathering, I marked the
ruffle and the bottom hem in fourths and then pinned the
ruffle on, pulling in and adjusting the gathers.  Finally
I sewed the ruffle to the bottom.  Make the ties at the neck
and waist out of remaining or coordinating fabric or you
could even purchase trim for the ties.

Wouldn't this be a wonderful gift for Mother's Day
for the woman who has everything?!!  

Maybe I even want to make them for my daughters
with a recipe card with my handwriting on it.

 Your imagination can
go wild with this fun online source.  How about aprons
or tea towels or even a skirt from your child's artwork?
Or maybe get in touch with your inner artist and design
some fabric for yourself.  What a great opportunity to
become a fabric designer.

Check them out.  They also have beautiful fabric designs
that are unique.

They have since received their gifts and
I have received a report back that they love
their apron mementos but don't want to 
wear them and get them dirty!!!  Haha!!
Well, make two - one for show and one for use!

I will be sharing this with
Jacqueline
Jacqueline

Chocolat - French for Chocolate. I adored chocolate from a young age when I had to sneak in the cupboard to find where my mother had hidden the Nestle's Chocolate Chips. Having read about the famous chocolat shoppes in Paris, when I finally got there I was determined to try a chocolate from every Paris shoppe. I invite you to share my adventures in creating, in travel, and in life.

12 comments:

  1. A friend recently told me about Spoonflower but I haven't had anything printed. Seeing your very cute creation has certainly given me inspiration.

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  2. Oh, My! What a charming, enduring piece of family history! And the sweet memories these can evoke (even if the recipe is Pot Roast)!

    I'm in the What Will They Think Of Next state right now, with thoughts of one particular recipe card that is snugged between the pages of my copy of Martha Stewart's ENTERTAINING---it's my Mother's recipe for Karo Pecan Pie, in her familiar left-handed back-slant.

    What a lovely idea for Sis for Mother's Day! I even have a dear friend in Chicago who makes me custom aprons. Can't think of better serendipity this Spring Morning.

    I hope your Eastertide was blessed with love and family and many blessings of this Holy Season.

    rachel

    ps I haven't posted pics of the darling little "tea" cups, for we're process of re-doing the second kitchen downstairs, plus I've been cheating and transferring a post or two into my new blog, from the archives of Lawn Tea. I'm taking all the posts on the People of Paxton, MS and moving them to one place so I can get them all into a book. Did I tell you that I owe my happy discovery of Blog2Print to YOU, and I'm MOST pleased with the seven books so far.

    If you'd ever have a moment to look in:

    http://paxtonpeople.blogspot.com/

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  3. You are so creative..This..adorable.What a gift..s!

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  4. This is such a fantastic idea! I love it!

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  5. I love this idea that you've shared with us, Jacqueline. the apron turned out so cute. Thank you for sharing!

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  6. Your apron turned out cute Jacqueline! I'm familiar with Spoonflower from a potholder post I've seen and think it's really an amazing idea:@)

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  7. What a fun idea! Both my grandmothers were amazing cooks. Some of their recipes are a bit old-fashioned but so good and bring back memories.
    Amalia
    xo

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  8. Wow, what a fantastic idea. This would be a lovely gift for the woman who has everything. Thanks for sharing this wonderful apron and link.

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  9. Jacqueline, you take the cake. this is such an awesome idea. I love it as so many memories evolve around food. Joni

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  10. How incredibly cool Jacqueline! What a wonderful idea and adorable result~I will be heading to Spoonflower to check it out, thanks!
    Jenna

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  11. I love this idea so much! I don't ever remember my grandma baking, and didn't ever bake with my mom either, but I do have a special cookie recipe of hers that I'd love to do this with. It was my very favorite cookie, and still is! :)

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