Where I've been and What I've been doing!

Hey! I'm back and happy to report that almost all of the boxes are now unpacked. There are just a few left and a couple of wardrobe boxes but they have things in them like quilt batts, zipper bags of yarn, my mother-in-law's and my grandmother's quilts and some bedding. Haven't figured out where those things are going yet. I want to get my two rooms done first.

Right now G is framing and getting ready to install a 2 ft. by 4 ft. section of pegboard for over my computer desk in the workroom. Above that will be two 72" shelves that we have yet to buy. And after that, IT WILL BE ALL DONE and pictures WILL be taken!

So! What have I been doing? Well, get comfortable and I'll tell you.....

Sometime ago on a blog or website I read a hint about a nifty little thing that Home Depot sells for 99 cents. They think it's a carpenter's apron, but this tip was about using it for a quilter's tool apron. When we were at Home Depot recently I purchased one. They look like this:

Simple little thing, no? It's only 2 pockets because it has a double row of stitching down the center of it. I really like this idea. Back a few years ago when I worked at a fabric store, we had to make something similar to this to carry our scissors around the store. While it's handy to have your scissors when you walk about the house, I actually thought I'd like something with more carrying capacity and this would work much better for me.

A couple days after I bought this apron, I had a meeting here at the house and my friends were touring my newly installed fabric room with it's custom cutting center that G built for me. The Home Depot apron was laying on the cutting station and someone asked what I had that for. I told them about the hint I had read. One gal said she wasn't so sure she wanted to wear an advertisement for Home Depot but then commented that I, no doubt, had plans to change that being that I embroider everything in sight!

I laughed outwardly but in my head I was thinking she was right! So, I went searching through my stash for something that I could applique over the Home Depot logo. I found a panel of what I think are supposed to be quilt labels. The panel is called Awakenings to Spring by Maywood Studios. I laid several of the designs over the Home Depot logo and found one I liked. Since the design had a blank center I then went looking for something I could embroider in the empty space. I wanted my initial "L" and found an L with a Lily of the Valley pattern I really liked. Here are 2 pictures, 1 of the whole panel and a close up of the square I chose after I had traced the embroidery pattern onto it & chosen the colors of thread I would use. Yes, I know I should have pressed the panel before the picture was taken, but I did it afterwards and before I started embroidering.

I added a muslin backing to the embroidery before hooping it so that the orange logo would not show through. It took me a few evenings to get the embroidery done, but during that time I also removed the stitching from the center of the Home Depot apron. Here you can see that and also the finished embroidery:

I then removed the basting holding the front and muslin together and trimmed the design. Then I cut another piece of muslin the same size. I placed the design face down on the new piece of muslin and sewed around all 4 edges with the exception of about 2 or 3 inches at the bottom of the design. In the picture below I hadn't finished sewing all around it yet because I wanted to make sure to finish it to fit the front of the apron. Also below is a picture of it pinned in place and ready to be sewn.

Finally, by sewing this on the front of the apron, I not only covered up the orange logo, but I created a 3rd pocket in the apron and the embroidered piece is actually a 4th pocket! Here is a close up of the sewn edges and a picture of me wearing my new spiffy sewing apron/caddy.

Should anyone else convert a Home Depot carpenter's apron, please let me know and send me pictures, okay?

Stitch on!