During the warm spell we had, no doubt you too were looking for spring or summer shirts to wear on those days, especially for outdoor activities. Do you have home/gardening clothing that you wouldn’t want to be seen wearing in public? I have a whole stash of those, especially shirts that seem to be covered with stains. The worst culprit for me is any part of the tomato plant–leaves and stems manage to decorate my clothing with green while any tomato processing in the kitchen splatters me with seeds and red stains. When I garden, I’m getting dirt on myself from shoveling, hauling compost and crawling around on hands and needs between rows. So, I have “farm garden clothes” that are a wreck and are stored separately from others. Back in the day, what did women do to protect their more meagre supply of clothing? Aprons!
Apron wearing in my immediate family went out of style, yet I recall both my ( dairy farm) grandmother and great grandmother wearing aprons all day long. In fact, I have no idea what they were wearing under those aprons other than the fact that there was a dress and rolled stockings. My grandmothers were hardy Yankees who lived a simple lifestyle. Those aprons prevented their few dresses from being ruined doing milk house and chicken shed chores and kept dreck off when sowing and harvesting in the garden (the division of labor meant the males did the soil preparation). Grandma mostly used a light hoe.
Their aprons were meant to cover dresses and blouses and were of the simplest styles–no flounces and fancy additions, one pocket. At most there would be contrasting piping or bric-a-brac to decorate a small floral print. These days, women wear slacks, jeans and shorts, so apron length can be more variable. I often think I would like something with multiple pockets when I suddenly find something in the garden to bring to the house. Utility belts are great for standing jobs like pruning, but can be too stiff or dangly when crouching or down on the ground. And, they don’t protect your shirts! So, some kind of cover seems like a good idea.
I had some fun looking at vintage patterns for utility clothing/aprons. How about a smock style? The sleveless short ones look great for our hot summers.
Early 60s’ smocks.
Here’s a version of handy-dandy multi pocketed apron. I’m guessing 70-80’s. Too frilly for me, but I get the concept.
Lookit! Pockets!
And then there’s vintage 90’s Prairie stylin’ for your garden work. Wrap around! So photo op worthy!
Ladies who garden.
Aprons are easy to make from patterns, even for beginning sewers. You can find vintage patterns on eBay and specialty shops online. Seems like a good idea to me!
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