17 March 2011

Sublime Stitching's Meaty Treats Patterns, and a Rather Epic Apron for Dad

My dad recently celebrated a birthday, way back in January.  I had the wonderful idea to make him an apron, since he's always cooking for someone- whether in the kitchen for family, on the grill, or for his fellow Masons and all the other organizations he's involved with.  The apron that I had in mind would feature steaks.  I searched and searched for the right fabric but nothing really caught my eye.  I wanted it to be quirky and fun, maybe a little retro.  Finally, with nearly one week to go and no steak pattern fabric in sight I realized it was time to seek out other options.  Enter the amazing Sublime Stitching patterns of Jenny Hart.  
Though familiar with Jenny Hart and her embroidery company, I had never used one of her patterns, nor had I done any major embroidery since I was in the 5th or 6th grade when I embroidered a colorful daisy flower on the back pocket of my most favorite jeans.  A quick Google search directed me to the company and her then newly released Meaty Treats pattern.  I hit the jack pot.  With designs for sausage links, and steaks, and hams, and hamburgers, and chicken wings I was equipped to make the most epic food-themed apron for my dad, ever.  I would not stop with a single steak.  Oh no, I had to add as many items on the apron as I could- complete with a sausage link pennant-like banner across the top from which various meat items would hang and a Sunday ham dinner flanked by two partially eaten chicken wings across the front pocket.
Being the ever so ambitious and adventurous one, I decided to enlarge most of the designs for aesthetics sake- after all, I wanted this apron to be epic.  Did I mention I had one week to do this?  And I also had to sew up the actual apron?  No?  Well, it's true.  In my extreme state of eagerness I failed to take into account how much time the embroidery would demand of me.  I realized this by link two of the sausage link swag.  In the end, I worked on this thing non stop- even on the bus and subway on my commute to and from work.  Things worked out fine in the end, though I did downsize some items (the little steaks and burgers at the bottom) and I had one less salami hanging beneath the sausage links.  
As for the apron itself, I used a heavy, navy colored linen and cotton bias tape for structure.  I loosely based my apron on this project from Needle Book but eventually ended up tracing the shape of Dan’s apron, adding 5/8" for the seam allowance. The linen was so, so nice to sew up but was perhaps not the best choice for an apron that might get a lot of usage.

Here's a photo of it on my dress form (looking rather girly, I might add) before it was finished.  (Oh look- Heidi wanted to be in the picture, too.)  :)
Have any of you used any of the Sublime Stitching patterns?  If so, which one(s) and for what purpose?  I also purchased the Ryan Berkley patterns and plan on working on them this spring.  Can't wait!

4 comments:

Ryann said...

So how much did your Dad love it? I bet he wears it and brags to everyone that his daughter made it for him. I love the bacon strips the most.

Rachel said...

That's so cool, Amy! Nice work.

helen ethel studio said...

Ryann, thanks! He really liked it and apparently wore it in public, too! (well, at a dinner he was preparing for a large group of people, anyways.) I love the ham and the half eaten drumsticks the most. hehe.

helen ethel studio said...

Thanks Rachel!

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