The Apron

Advertising photographs are scheduled to be shot tomorrow at the violin shop where my younger son works part time.  My son and his boss, a master violin maker, needed new woodworker aprons to look their best.  True to form, my son decided to make aprons from scratch.

The first step was to make a pattern.  That involved cutting out a series of trial patterns from a large roll of butcher paper and trying them out.  I got to play the part of sewing dummy.  My son would press a pattern against my chest and then ask rude questions like "Will the grommets for the tie straps fall above or below your hipbones?"  (A man of my girth has only a vague idea where his hipbones are and resents having to poke around in the fat to locate them.)  After a bit of trial and error he settled on a workable pattern. 

My son's apron design called for a leather section on top and navy blue canvas section below.  A thin line of light blue canvas, added for stylistic flair, would separate the two sections.

My son sliced the apron top out of a large piece of leather that must have originally covered most of a cow. 

Then he cut out the canvas parts.  After some careful sewing, the assembled apron was put on the living room floor to relax.

My son took the apron to a friend who knows grommet installation (a grommetier?).  With the addition of a grommet on each side, the apron was almost done.  That scrap piece of leather with a grommet was for practice.

     
To complete the apron, my son sewed leather tie straps to the top.   The straps go over the shoulders, cross in back, go through the grommets, and get tied at the small of the back.

The apron is ready.  Bring on the advertising photographers!