Apron etc.

I had 2 meters of nice printed cotton that I bought in Bowral a few years ago to make a shirt out of. But then I thought I'd look stupid in a shirt made out of it, because it was too pretty and flowery. It would make something cute, though. It's a reasonably thick cotton but soft, from memory it's Japanese. So I didn't want to waste it. But while I pondered, it sat around being a complete waste of space and money.

Used an apron as a pattern, adding an inch around it as I cut, for seam allowance. Hemmed all the way around it, cut strips and sewed them on for the neck strap and waist ties.

Success!

As a reward for being so creative, frugal and productive, I went to Spotlight in the afternoon. I took with me a single bed sized quilt front that I pieced maybe 8 years ago. A few years ago I got around to sewing the borders around it. I went and bought some cotton batting, some backing and some green stuff to bind the edges with. $80. Craft is such a financial drain sometimes, which is ironic given that quilting in particular was originally about using scraps and recycling things. Sometimes that works out, but sometimes vast expense is unavoidable. I recall now that the front was made from fabric I chose for free from the stash of a friend, back when I was unemployed. It will be pretty. I used to call it my Jane Austen quilt. And although I will have some leftover stuff from this quilt, I have managed to make three quilts without getting fully addicted and gathering boxes of fat quarters. My secret is, buying nice material for an unspecified project in the unspecified future is a big NO. Decide the project, make the time, then go and buy the right quantity of materials. Even then you can be left with awkward unused stuff as per the apron story.