Friday, March 6, 2015

McCall 3610 - Ladies' Apron


About 1910.

This one seems to be related to McCall 2550, although in this case, rather than holding her palette and brush, our model holds her fluffy little dish mop, ready to bring her cut glass pitcher and bowl to a gleaming shine.

Like McCall 2550, there are no pockets in this apron; I can never fathom an apron without pockets.

The style is a little uncommon, with the narrow band across the front and the deep V back.



The pattern itself doesn't seem to have been used much, but the envelope has certainly had a hard life.

The maker must have been in a hurry when she folded up the pattern pieces, as several scraps of fabric got swept into the folds - very possibly a Stifel indigo. This is the second apron pattern I have with evidence of having been made up in an indigo calico.


I recently decided I needed an apron to keep in the sewing room, so I made up this pattern in some pink chambray I had on hand.

This pattern was produced before either fabric layout diagrams or detailed construction instructions were offered, so the maker is on her own to decide whether or not to face the yoke (I did, for strength and neatness) and how to finished the edges of the straps and upper backs.  (I cut 1 1/2" bias strips of the chambray and used them as facings.)

This apron is quite large.  The front yoke finishes to 16" and I think this apron would easily accommodate a bust measurement of about 40".  I shortened the pattern by 5" and with a 1" doubled-over hem, ended up with an apron that ends just above my ankle.  The circumference at the bottom is 80".  The ties are at mid back, which isn't as inconvenient to reach as you might think.


Originally posted on 8/27/2009.  Re-posted on 3/6/2015 to show made garment.

6 comments:

Quail said...

Fab detective work on those scraps they look like: http://quailbymail.co.uk/products/shweshwe-lucy-dress.html

andrea.at.the.blue.door said...

I love the idea of such a long tradition in a fabric. Such a pity that Stifel is no longer with us.

Unknown said...

Any chance of getting a copy of this pattern?

andrea.at.the.blue.door said...

Hi haesel. I'm sorry that I can't provide copies of the patterns, and unfortunately, as you've seen, the early patterns don't provide schematics of the layouts.

I believe that you could draft something very similar to this pattern by starting out with a modern blouse pattern that fits well. See the posting for McCall 2523 for an example of how this was done for a house dress. The apron would be similar but probably easier because it doesn't have sleeves.

Dianne said...

That would make a wonderful artists smock! Especially at some of the re-enactments this summer. It's great to paint plein air at these things and be properly dressed too.

OnePerfectDay said...

Hi there! I just discovered your lovely blog and went crazy looking through the wonderful vintage patterns you post.
I looked for a way to follow the blog or subscribe to it but was unable to find one.
Is there some way to follow that I'm missing? If so, please let me know what to do.