Happy Hearts Day!

   
     We took a peak around our shop and tallied up nine aprons that feature hearts! From our vintage Queen of Hearts Full Apron, to our four Valentine Heart Half Aprons, and not to forget those wonderful heart pockets on our Red and Green Apple Full Aprons, our  Hibiscus Apron, and our Vintage Pink and Purple Flower Apron, the hearts definitely have it.
        Our Romancing the Rose Half Apron is the ultimate tribute to Valentines Day. This sumptuous apron is filled with gorgeous long stem red rose bouquets and love notes in gold lettering including: “Together forever,” “I love you”, “You are the one for me,” “My heart is Yours.” This apron is definitely over the top ---  perfect  to wear as you bake away or celebrate the day. 

Vintage Aprons for Vermont Flood Relief

The devastation from Hurricane Irene was incredible, but so were the heart opening miracles that came with that storm. One story came though the big, old, slow St. Bernard who hangs out every day at a general store down Route 106, not far from us. During the storm, this dog walked near the edge of a deep ravine where the heavy storms waters raged in the river below. His owners saw their beloved dog slip off that edge and fall 80 feet below into the roiling waters filled with felled trees, cars, trucks, and all the debris being carried off by the terrible storm. Their hearts were broken. There was absolutely nothing they could do. To everybody's amazement, two days later their wonderful old dog found his way back the many miles and with tail wagging, walked up to their front door. Anything is possible.

While we were selling our aprons at a local Christmas Craft Fair, a woman from Waterbury, Vermont approached our table and saw our sign explaining that we are donating a portion of the sale of all our apple aprons to the Vermont Flood Relief Effort ( see October 9). She started to tear up. She said she is one of those people who is being helped by that fund. Her home was devastated by Tropical Storm Irene. It was unlivable. Over the last months she has had so many people, from contractors to electricians, many complete strangers, who have reached out and offered help, worked on her house and given time and money. She didn't know what she would have done without that help. With tears on her face, she said she was so happy to be able to thank us for being part of that Vermont Flood Relief Effort.

We want to pass on a special thank you to all those who have purchased our apple aprons and supported our Vermont Flood Relief effort. (We've learned that many of you are especially partial to green apples.) We are so pleased with the response that we are continuing our donation into 2012.

Vintage Aprons for Dolls

     My twin sister and I have enjoyed researching and collecting antique apron patterns and bringing them back to life in our fabrics. One of our favorite patterns is a mail order pattern from the 1940's we call our “comes to a point” apron. Remember the days of those wonderful swingy skirts of the 40's and 50's? This apron pattern captures that skirt. With a lovely swing to the skirt, a hemline that dips to a point, and topped off with a sweetheart neckline, this apron is flattering to all shapes, sizes and curves.

     

     One morning I woke up with the idea that I could scale down our “comes to a point” pattern to fit our American Girl dolls and our Waldorf dolls. Working on pattern paper first, I made some adjustments, and tested out my pattern on scrap fabric. It fit the dolls nicely. I decided to sew two different fabrics together to make it reversible. Two different aprons at once! Adding a velcro tab on the back made this apron easy for even the littlest hands to put on and take off. Next was  choosing what fabrics would be the right scale pattern for this little  apron only 5" long.  I couldn't resist our pink leaves cotton print  and our kiwi and strawberry cotton which we enjoy in  our Mom-size aprons.  The dolls beamed with smiles when I put on their aprons.

It seemed our American Girl doll needed to have a bitty oven mitt to match. Not something that sort of looked like an oven mitt, but a real mitt. Yes, a mitt with cotton batting and quilting to give is some poof, just like the oven mitts that get used in the kitchen. As a little surprise, inside the mitt is a lining of delightful bright chartreuse.

I thought it would be fun for girls to have an apron to match their dolls. So the next step was scaling our Mom-size patterns to fit  girls. When I made this apron set for my niece, she and her doll danced around the room in it! So now Blue Star Vermont has aprons to match for all the girls in the family - for moms, for girls and for dolls.