Domestic Goddess

Here's a fun little palette cleanser by Amy Butler, the Domestic Goddess apron.  I made the Pleated Bodice version.  I had a lot of fun squeezing the pattern pieces out of some beautiful but not too plentiful yardage in my stash, both  Jane Sassaman fabrics from my quilting stash.
The body of the apron is from the  "Garden Diva" range with accent fabric for ties in a pink and blue "Shadows" range.  They are not the same year or collection but work well together.
Its so gorgeous a print that the apron was a great project for it because otherwise, I don't think I could have bought myself to cut it up!  There are fabric out there now and then that I cannot bring myself to cut into and this print is one of those.  I just adore Jane Sassaman's wild  fabrics.

Made it largely on my 820.  I say largely, because I started out making pockets on a vintage Bernina near where my children were playing,as its holidays, and since the 820 is so heavy it is not a machine you pick up and move around the house if you can help it and lives at the other end of the house to where the children play, there are times I use another machine in the living space.  Once school resumes I will be living in my studio!!  This weekend I've had some quality Phebe time.

It is a good thing there is this much LED  lighting on the machine, because my studio is so dark. 
One thing I cannot believe is the amount of clearance under the foot!  Now, I would not ever sew with my finger where you see it here, of course..Don't do this at home readers.... 

The point is my finger is a decent size, my hands are large, I wear almost man sized rings, and its nice to have so much space to wiggle a project around under the foot.

The apron I made is the pleated bodice apron, and when Amy named that style, it was aptly chosen.
The apron has lots of pleats which when sewn either stack or butt against each other across the top of the bodice. The bodice is lined so you form lots of pleats at the top and two at the bottom, on each piece. They are sewn together, then top stitched along through the seam allowances, not only of the two pieces but of all the pleats incorporated into the top edge.  Phebe just steamed through the lot without hesitation as I expected.

I do like the way Amy has designed the pockets to sit out from the apron, not flat, so that there is room for your hands or other stuff... and the pockets are lined as well as interfaced, so they should be durable.
I used the blindhem foot number 5 and moved my needle across to edge stitch and then I remembered I can also use the #10 from my stash of feet, even though it doesn't have the clever sensor on it. 
This apron has pleats on the top bodice, which is lined. And there are pleats in the lining as well. And pleats in the skirt in the centre front. If you want to learn to sew pleats, sew this pattern!!.  They add a lot of shaping which is nice.   The neck straps and waists and ties are also lined and the waist is interfaced with sew in interfacing.  Whilst the apron isn't a half hour job to sew, it has a lovely shape and was fun to sew.
The edges are very cleanly finished by being either stitched and turned inside out or folded edges aligned and edge stitched. I like edge stitching to keep the edges where they should be after being turned and pressed.

  Its not at all difficult to sew so close to the edge, if you have an edge stitch foot or a blind hem foot you can move your needle whatever distance from the blade or ledge that you like or need, and then just keep the edge of the fabric level with the blade. Watch the edge of the fabric, and not the needle.    Here I am pivoting around the bottom of a pocket...you get a good view of the blade along which I run the edge that I want to edge stitch.  It is so easy to do, its almost like sewing for dummies 101.  I do remember in decades past,  the dark ages before I had an edge stitch foot, and how frustratingly difficult it was to get a nice finish properly close to the edge.


And here is a candidate for the most uninspiring studio view award,  right  from my studio!  Next door neighbours wall....  at least there are some nice tropical looking plants and grasses.  And no chance I can get distracted from my sewing, even if I wanted to be!    At least one bonus is that the house is not ours, we are renting for a while, but I think I would  have to think hard about buying a place with such a lack of view.  I would definitely think twice about buying a house with a shade cloth over my light source with a house next door so close! 
But one thing I do like about the house we found is that there is enough room to set up my toys working equipment or machines I use for fun garment sewing.  Photos of studio to come later once I am properly settled in.
The cabinet is up but I still have tubs of fabric and general chaos from the move  to sort out before anyone sees it!

Stephanie