Sense and Sensibility Girls Edwardian apron pattern

TOS Crew Review

Title: Girls Edwardian Apron Pattern

Publisher: Sense and Sensibility Patterns, Created by Mrs. Jennie Chancey

Product: Bundle e-Pattern and e-Class


Overall impression:

I was delighted with this pattern. It is charming and simple to make.

Here is how it works:

1. You are taken to a site to download this product.

2. It only takes 6 minutes to download (using High speed internet access).

3. You now have the entire pattern, class, and instructions all in one place on your computer (which you can re-use over and over again).

4. All you have to do is print out the pattern. The instructions are very easy to follow. It took me 16 minutes to lay out the pieces and tape it together. It took me another 16 minutes to cut out the pattern pieces.

5. From there, you can take your time, reading the instructions, viewing the steps in the e-Class.

I will describe how I used this product:

I planned to use this with my 14 year old daughter, Amy. She already knows how to hand-sew. But she is not familiar with patterns. I thought this would be a perfect opportunity for her. However, she didn’t seem the least bit interested. So I thought of a creative way to get her involved. First, I decided to make an apron myself, without her. I made the largest size of 14 (even though this is a girls pattern, it will actually fit me as I am petite). I do my sewing completely by hand just like some people knit or crochet. The e-class was extremely helpful. Sometimes I get confused by pattern directions so it was an enormous bonus to have Jennie’s step-by-step directions in photographs through the e-Class. There was only one point where I had trouble. The directions for the bias binding were unclear. Jennie offered other links and more information for this, but I was unable to access it. A simple solution was doing a search on Google. In just a few minutes I saw a few pictures of making and attaching bias binding that solved the problem for me very quickly. From there, I was able to proceed. The rest of her directions are excellent and easy to follow, even for a beginner.

Here is how I got Amy involved. Her best friend was going to spend the afternoon with us. They had a Young Women’s Bible Study class to attend later in the evening. Since we don’t have any little girls in our family anymore, I realized that Amy’s teacher had a sweet 3 year old daughter we could make an apron for. Amy and her friend, Jess, were delighted with this idea. Since we had a house full of people over for the day and special foods to prepare, I told them we would just work slowly throughout the afternoon. They both had basic hand-sewing skills. We didn’t use a sewing machine at all. Here is how our day went:

Our company arrived in the early afternoon. This was my oldest daughter (21) and her friend. My husband, and our four other children were also here, along with my parents. Amy and Jess decided to watch a movie on the third floor. First, I showed them the tiny size 3 pattern pieces I had cut out (dreamy!). I quickly showed them what I was doing and then sent them back to their movie. When all the pieces were ready, I brought up one apron pocket for each girl with bias binding pinned in place. I handed a threaded sewing needle to each girl and explained to them what they needed to do. They sewed while watching their movie. When they were finished, they came downstairs for me to check their work, and get another assignment. I had them sew the side seams, attach the belt binding, etc. Little by little, they got most of that apron finished. We all sewed while visiting with our company. We sat around the living room with our projects in hand and just chatted. Later, Jess and Amy had to go to their class. I did the final touches on the apron and even added a pretty white, crochet trim to the top of each pocket. The girls loved the apron! It was a wonderful experience for them. They were able to see all the steps that went into making such a beautiful, useful item. Today, at Church, we gave their teacher the apron for her daughter. She absolutely loved it.

Please note: You do not have to spend a lot of money for materials. I already had some material here at home. I used scrap material for the bias binding. I also used odd-colored thread to sew it all up. I did not spend any money at all in supplies. If you want to do this pattern just to learn, see what you already have available at home, or buy supplies on clearance. Later, when you have the funds, you can buy special fabric, matching thread, etc.

Final thoughts:
This is a perfect resource for those who want to teach sewing. There are only a few simple pattern pieces to put together. The e-class and instructions are for those using a sewing machine, but you can also do this easily by hand as we have done.

* Please note: The above picture is of the largest girls size 14 apron for this pattern. Yes, it is me in the photo. *



Blessings
Mrs. White

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