Lovely Aprons and Pretty Dresses

Journey to Homemaker

Aprons are making a big comeback nowadays. At least they are in homemaking circles. Most Christian homemaking blogs contain a post or two about them, particularly if the blog owners believe in modest dress. There is something about how you feel in an apron. It is the homemaker's "uniform". When you put it on, you feel as if you have truly begun your day.

I often feel more productive when I am dressed, my hair done, and wearing socks and shoes (I am a lover of slippers). But when I don that old-time wardrobe necessity, that's when I feel truly ready to work. The aprons I have now are simple, modern, solid-colored aprons with logos on the front. Only one is long and has pockets. As a plus-size woman, most aprons don't give me the coverage I desire.

A lot of homemakers like the cute half-aprons of the fifties, the kind meant to use while serving your dinner party guests. But for me, those are kind of pointless, because when I spill stuff, it's down the front of me, not on my lap. There are many styles out there, the no-tie type often seen in Jane Austen movies being a popular one. The type I like is one I would consider more of a pioneer style--feminine but not frilly, flowing and very practical...giving me the full coverage I need. These are hard to come by, but I found a pattern for them online here: www.candleonthehill.net/store/catalog.php?item=40&catid=12&ret=catalog.php.%3Fcategory%3D12

I plan to get the pattern at some point, but I may for now try to just wing it. I know, I know...I don't know how to sew. LOL. But I found a free pattern online that tells you how to make a similar apron for a child. I just have to figure out how to make the back of it, since I think it is different. I have some nice blue toile I plan to use, and then make one for my older daughter to wear. That style with that particular print should make a really lovely apron. If I ever get the time!

Lately I've been wearing my nicer dresses around the house. I always avoided that, for comfort and also to keep them nice. But how many "church" dresses can you have? Plus they are mostly prints, so stains won't show as much as they do on my solid-colored casual tops. And most of them are actually pretty comfortable, and really aren't all that dressy. I twist my hair up and clip it, then blow dry my bangs and curl tendrils over my ears. It's quick and easy, and I look pretty good.

Now I need some comfy shoes for the house. I feel silly in a dress and sneakers. Those go better with my denim skirts. I have some nice sandals I wore all last summer. Very comfy, and I don't have to search for matching socks. I'd never worn sandals before because I thought I had ugly feet. But I did my toenails (and plucked hairs from my big toes--I know, too much information, lol) and moisturized my feet, and they looked pretty good. I actually felt prettier.

Wednesday I was on the back deck with the children, sweeping up the sand from their sandbox. I actually wasn't worried about people seeing me, because I had on a nice dress, an apron, had my hair done, and was peacefully sweeping the deck. As a mother of a "large" family (small compared to most people at my church) I often feel like the "poster child" for moms of large families. You feel uncomfortable if you and your children look like slobs, and you're screaming at them as they run wild. Really, it's the moms of one kid who should feel like that if they look that way, they don't have as much of an excuse, lol! But since you're a spectacle if you have more than two kids (especially as young as all mine are) you don't want to be any more of a spectacle than you have to!! So looking nicer is definitely a good thing!