Mother's Day apron and giveaway

First off, can I just say a massive THANK YOU for all your kind words and wonderful comments about my Georgia dress. The style was a big departure for me, so to receive such encouraging comments really meant a lot - thank you!

Right, back to apron making. Actually the title of this post may be a bit misleading. I have made an apron for Mother's Day, but it's not actually for my mum, it's for my mother-in-law. The reason? Well, despite being totally awesome in about a million different ways, the one thing my mum can't do is cook. If you ever watched the 1970's sitcom Butterflies, then my mum's cooking skills are right up there with Ria's i.e. non existent (soz mum!) Ever the unconventional one, my mum has her eye on my tube map travelcard holders, so that's what she'll be getting for Mother's Day!

I decided to make an apron anyway, for my mother-in-law Audrey, who certainly can cook and is often seen sporting an apron. She chose Flea Market Fancy Leaf and Dot from Purple Stitches. This fabric includes all my favourite things in one go: red, polka dots and retro florals, so was a great choice!

I tried to tempt her into a fifties-style half apron, but she's a serious jam maker and needed an apron with full coverage. Now I've made lots of full aprons in my time, but usually for little girls. To make an adult sized one, I drafted the pattern myself, based on my own apron at home.

As the fabric is quilting weight, I added a lining to give it a bit of structure and used cotton webbing for straps. I always leave apron straps loose so they can be tied to order - much easier. The edges are simply pressed and folded twice, then topstitched.

 I'm rather partial to the finished apron - I may just keep it for myself…

It doesn't get much more glamorous than this….

If you'd like to try your hand at a bit of crafting for Mother's Day, Vivian from Purple Stitches is very generously giving away a metre of fabric to one lucky winner. There are some seriously lovely quilting cottons and home decor fabrics in stock here. To enter, just leave a comment on this post, telling me which Purple Stitches fabric you'd choose if you're the winner. The giveaway is open worldwide and closes at midnight GMT on Thursday 20th March. The randomly chosen winner will be announced on Friday.

Thank you Vivian for such a generous giveaway and good luck everybody!