How hard can it be to make an apron?

Ok...for whatever reason I've had an irresistible urge to wear an apron. I have no idea when this developed or why. All I know is I want one.

So Julaine sent me a link to a blog on how to make an apron. At first I was a little skiddish about the idea of making my own; even though the blogger said it was for beginners and super easy. Instead I decided to look on etsy. Oh man that's an addicting website. It's also totally sickening to see how creative some people are. And by sickening I mean that I'm totally jealous. Of course after looking on their for hours I thought to myself that maybe I could make one. So I went to ebay to search for fabric.

Again...totally addicting. There are thousands of fabrics on ebay. Way too many to look through. But then one caught my eye. After reading the description I saw it was by a specific fabric designer, Alexander Henry. This of course sent me on a search for only Alexander Henry fabrics. If you like fabric, you should check out some of his prints. They are super cute. After browsing his fabrics for awhile I saw one that I recognized from an apron on etsy. This was like the giant lightbulb in my head...I can do this. If that lady could do it well so can I.

So I called the local fabric store to see if they carried Alexander Henry, Apples & Pears print. Of course they didn't. Which again sent me back to ebay. I spent a lot of time debating whether or not I'd pay $8 a yard for fabric on ebay. I decided not to. Instead I thought I'd just go to the fabric store and check myself. I was just about to decide that I wasn't going to do this and I spotted IT. It was THE fabric. The exact one I had called about and they said they didn't have it. I swear I saw a halo just above it. I was so excited...over fabric...I know this sounds ridiculous but it was like some sort of creative being was possessing me. I needed this fabric.

Of course I also needed a second fabric to compliment this one and serve as a trim to my future perfect apron. This caused nearly as many hours of searching and resulted in 2 trim fabrics because I couldn't decide which I liked better. Then I had no idea how much I needed of each so I got 2 yards of THE fabric and one yard each of the others. This cost a whopping $23. This better be an awesome apron.

I'm nearly high with excitement over this purchase and can't wait to get home to start on my project. I get online and obtain the simple directions. I start cutting away. Then I realize I need to get out the sewing machine. This machine cost me about $20 at WalMart 10 years ago and has been stored in the garage since 2001 when I did my last project. I no longer have the directions and pretty much have to wing it when it comes to threading the dumb thing. It took me thirty minutes and lots of f-bombs to figure out the bobbin for the thread underneath. Stupid machine. Now it's finally working and I can't start.

I carefully follow the instructions online. These are by no means easy directions...what exactly is she saying when she says 'press open'. Also when she says 'leave one end unsewn' that means the short end not the long end. Whatever. So I messed that part up a little. This has taken me several hours now just to get a couple of peices sewn. But I get that done and now I need to sew on the trim for the top and bottom and the ties. Everything is pinned in place. I step on the foot pedal and the stupid needle will not go through the layers of fabric. Of course I said a few f-bombs and continued to stop on the pedal repeatedly. Still no luck. So I try to force each stitch. Nothing happens. Then I force it some more and the thread breaks. Now I have to re-thread the needle. I'm getting angry. I re-thread and try again. Nothing. The thread breaks again, the bottom thread has run out. And I'm about out of patience. Ok...one last time. I spool a new bobbin and thread the needle again. Everything is in place, I'm secretly praying, please let this work, I press the pedal.......Nothing. OH MY GOODNESS...I WANT TO THROW SOMETHING. I want to kick the machine. I want to scream. I'm so close. Dumb thing.

So I get back on etsy and order the one I wanted in the first place. I'm putting the sewing machine in the garage sale next time. And my hand-made apron will sit in the closet half done for eternity. Whatever. I have a cuter one coming in 2-5 days.

By the way, does any need 3 yards of fabric?