I made these aprons about a month ago but am just getting around to posting them now because I’ve been working on a tutorial to go along with them. [ASIDE: Kudos to those of you who regularly post tutorials, I always forget how long they take to write up with all the photo editing!] But then of course once I started writing the tutorial I decided to break it up into two posts anyway because I have some announcements I want to make that I thought would be best to leave outta the tutorial.

One of my dearest friends got married last month (congratulations Sharon and Colin!) and I was fortunate to be able to travel all the way back to Nova Scotia on her big day. But what to get the girl who has everything (….everything in my price range that is…LOL)? I asked her if she’d be into some homemade napkins or oven mitts or anything like that, and she said her man was wanting a nice stout grillin’ apron. So a project was born!

This is one of the funniest couples you’ll ever meet so I knew their aprons needed to reflect that. What better use for this aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamazeballs Hunky Wrangler Pin-Up fabric???? (And I got the end of the bolt bonus and got an extra half yard of this winner!) This way Sharon can be reminded of her own hunk-a-hunk-a-burnin’ love everytime she puts it on.

And for Colin?

He loves all things comic book and even has a replica of the Green Lantern’s ring as his wedding ring! Obviously as soon as I saw this DC comics fabric I clicked ‘buy’ (sorry, looks like fabric.com is sold out right now).

In my chosen career as an academic I’ve often found myself in a situation where I am traveling for a friends wedding and end up not being able to afford the type of present I would really love to give. That’s when I love to think up something personalized like this that I can make. For a total cost of about $20, I ended up with a totally personal and totally memorable present that I can guarantee no one else got them!

Oh but hey there, my career comment reminds me. I mentioned I had a bit of news didn’t I?

Announcement #1: I GOT A JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! [Imagines dancing around fabric store throwing around dollar bills, draping herself in all the fabrics she’s been pining for over the last year of unemployment]. And it’s a bit of a career change into the communications side of science, which I’m super excited about! But it’s been a steep learning curve that’s left me exhausted at the end of the day and, combine that with a 10 day trip back home to Canada, and I haven’t gotten much sewing or blog writing done in the past month. Hopefully as I get used to my new schedule and things calm down I’ll pick up my sewing more regularly again. In the meantime, I’d love to hear from all you gainfully employed sewists out there – how do you find the time to sew???

Announcement #2: I got a surprise when I idly looked at my blog stats the other day and found that I’d received well over 1,000 hits that day (that’s like 10x what I usually get). Whaaaaa????? After a little clicking around I realized that my DIY bed o’ nails thread organizer project had been included in a list on Buzzfeed’s Community page! What a lovely surprise. Check it out if you’re interested, there are lots of other great organizational ideas on there: 45 Organization Hacks to Transform Your Craft Room.

Announcement #3: This one is definitely late, but better late than never, right?? A couple months ago I received another lovely surprise, this time in the form of a comment on one of my blog posts. The lovely Elle from Erratic Project Junkie had left the following comment for me:

Originally I thought it would be fantastic to incorporate this into last month’s Sewcialist-hosted Tribute Month Sew-Along (check out a great roundup of the amazing projects here) because I could pass the award along to all the sewists that I would love to pay tribute to. But, errrr…..it’s September already! Anyway, Elle’s got all the rules of the award posted on her blog here, but I can never come up with facts about myself. And really, nearly this whole dang post has been about myself! (Where’s the crafting?!?! Ammiright?!?!). I’m supposed to nominate some other bloggers that I find inspiring and post a button here that people can grab but, I’m gonna be honest, I don’t know how to do that (but the ladies in the following list should grab the button from Elle’s post if they so desire). So I’m just gonna link to a few ladies that I’m sure you all know, but who I find particularly inspiring and would like to present with The Very Inspiring Blogger Award:

Oona Balloona – Ummm…..hello?! Her amazing use of color, texture and pattern is a constant inspiration and source of wonder.
Ginger Makes – What’s not to love about that big smile of hers! Her willingness to sew up whatever her heart desires always inspires me to make something just for the fun of it.
Gillian (Crafting a Rainbow) – Gillian is so inspiring to me because she’s just such a dang good Sewcialist! Always coming up with thoughtful discussions and new ways to engage the online sewing community I also look to Gillian for knit inspiration!
Checkout Girl – I don’t think she’s blogging too much these days but Checkout Girl’s beautiful felt art embroidery hoops have inspired me to try my own versions a couple times
Chrix Design – I can’t remember how I found her blog, but Chrix Design’s cosplay is outta this world. I don’t do cosplay but costume making definitely holds a special place in my heart and I love reading about her creative (and often inexpensive) solutions to bring her characters to life.
Cloth Habit – It had literally never occurred to me that one could make their own lingerie until I saw this blog. Of course, I’ve still never made any but Cloth Habit has inspired the kernel of an idea that keeps growing and growing in the back of my mind.
Nicole at Home – I think I found Nicole’s blog through Britex and I’m so glad I did. Her technical expertise is a constant source of inspiration and I aspire to have half as much talent one day!
Amy of Sew Well – Amy constantly inspires me to try to be more diligent in making the effort to improve my craft and technical skills.
Seamstress Erin – Erin isn’t shy about sharing some of her personal struggles on her blog and hearing about her PhD, relationship with sewing and ultimate decision to go her own way reminds me how important passion is.
Cassie Stephens – I think I found Cassie through Seamstress Erin’s Rambo project, and she’s been putting a smile on my face ever since. Her obvious passion for art and teaching comes through in every post and every crazy dress and I love it all.
CathGrace – Catherine makes it look easy, but her amazing Anthropologie knockoffs (and other awesome projects) are always a testament to the art of sewing.
Curvy Sewing Collective – And last but not least, how could I forget the fairly newly formed Curvy Sewing Collective. While many beautiful ladies post here, each one inspires me to embrace my body explore sewing as a way to show it off.

Phew! See? That was a lot. I’m off to finish up the tutorial so you can make your own version of these awesome aprons, and hopefully I’ll have that up by Monday….Tuesday??? Sometime next week….