Aunt Sook Aprons

My latest project has been a couple of kitchen smocks that my sister E named "Aunt Sook Aprons", after our great aunt Sook. This style was a staple of her housekeeping attire, wearing them when she cooked and cleaned her little house in New Albany, Indiana. No, Sook wasn't her real name, that was Sylvia, but I never ever heard anyone call her that. It was always Sook.

E originally requested one of these several years ago because she wanted an apron that would provide good coverage when cooking dinner after getting home from work. She remembered Aunt Sook's smocks and asked if I could make that specific style. An internet search commenced, and I was fortunate enough to locate a pattern at Patterncentral.com. According to the website, "Here you will find over 500 Sewing, Craft, Quilt, Crochet, Knitting, and Embroidery Patterns. Our company has been in business for over 50 years selling patterns through the newspapers and now we are also on the Internet." So those of you who are old enough to remember the patterns you ordered from the paper now have a resource for them.

I'd made 2 Aunt Sook Aprons for E previously, but she gave one of them to her friend who has a medical condition that makes swallowing difficult. The friend wears it to protect her clothes when she tries to eat.

So I decided to make a couple of new ones, one to replace the one that E gave away and another one for her friend. I figure that you need at least a couple, one to wear and one to wash. And of course, I have plenty of cottons to work with! Both designs have kitchen themed fabric, the green with its vegetables and the black has little kitchen utensils in the middle of the black squares. I classify this type of project as "utility sewing," but at the same time, I enjoyed making something that I know will be appreciated and used.

And of course, I have yet to make any Aunt Sook Aprons for myself. Isn't that typical?

As a seasonal note, I've been working on Christmas like everyone else and here's my tree! I go for an eclectic look, with lots of glass balls and featuring ornaments I've made or collected over the years. Too bad I can't capture what it really looks like, the flash really flattens and washes it out.

And in local news, Albuquerque seems more like Seattle or San Francisco this week. Over an inch of rain yesterday and more expected today. It's not quite cold enough for pretty snow just the less pleasant aspects of precipitation like slick roads.