Temporary Insanity & A Giveaway!

I have, this week, been stricken with temporary insanity. As evidence of that, I offer the following: I ordered a new cord for my sewing machine, even though there's no way I need to use my sewing machine right now. Also, I bought fabric. Not a lot of fabric, but fabric, nonetheless, because heaven knows I don't have enough left over from other projects hiding in my closet (the fabric, not the other projects).

You can see the fabric, here, to the right and left. Isn't it precious? Isn't it perfect? Would you have been able to leave this fabric sitting on a cold and lonely bolt amongst preoccupied shoppers who don't even have the decency to appreciate it? Because I couldn't, and so a bit of this fabric came home with me!

I know, I know - I am supposed to be studying. And, heaven knows there are things around here that haven't seen a cleaning cloth in months. So, if I'm not studying, I need to be cleaning, and if I don't want to do that there is no shortage of yard work. I do NOT need to be doing something frivolous, so what did I do? I made aprons. Because, you know, a day without an apron is like a day without coffee, right? Yeah, I know - if I was going to break out the machine, I could have at least had the decency to make something useful. But, aprons were calling to me, so I had to do it!

You can see them here, on my reluctant model (my youngest son) who only agreed to model them when I promised that his face wouldn't be shown, and that nobody from WOW reads this blog! Note the cool red crocs the child is wearing - he gets his fashion sense from me! :)

I am not the most adept seamstress around, but I am reasonably happy with the way these turned out. They are simple half-aprons, made largely from this tutorial Diamonds, Fur & Laundry 15 Minute Apron, although I did make a couple of adaptations to the pattern. For one, I wanted pleats, so I added those to the top of the apron before I put the waistband in place. For another, I wanted longer ties (so that anyone could use these aprons), so I used more fabric there. Still, I learned a few things on these and I think it will be relatively easy to make a third apron, and I have enough fabric to make one more whole apron.

So, to you, my bloggy friends, I am making this offer: I will give away a third apron, just like the two shown above. You can select either the green or the pink fabric, and if you want a trim other than the brown I've used you can tell me, and I'll try to find fabric in that color. I'll use a random drawing to select the winner.

To enter, simply comment on this post. You can get a second entry by checking out Melissa's paint colors and commenting on that post (anyone who's already done that who adds a comment here will get both entries). You can get three more entries if you link to this post on your blog (but let me know you've done that in the comments, please!). So, you could potentially have five entries in the drawing. I'll draw a winner on February 1st, to give people ample time to comment.

My disclaimer is, however, that I am not a professional seamstress. This is a handmade apron and it will look like a handmade apron. However, it will keep your clothes free of flour and such when you bake, and it is made of some pretty cute fabric. So, if you need another apron in your life, feel free to leave a comment!