Vintage Aprons

Textiles - I find myself drawn to them when rummaging at yard sales ... tea towels, aprons, curtains, rugs, and so on. Old chenille bedspreads and quilts and comforters have several entries on my list of purchases for this past year. I've never paid much attention to aprons until this year, and though I only bought 5, they were wonderful finds. The first was a snow-white cotton bib apron with Battenburg lace accents. Then at one sale I got all of the other four:

I had never seen one of this sort before. A city on the shores of a sea or ocean, in what seems to be a view from above, as though I were looking down from a hill. Grapes or berries, growing on an arbor or garden gate, frame the view. I get a Meditteranean or Italian impression, certainly unlike the fabric of the aprons Mom or Grandma wore when I was growing up!

Now these two do remind me of my childhood - the red ric-rac touches bring to mind my grandmother, and the more contemporary, zig-zaggy stripes remind me of Mom's aprons.

And this adorable child's apron in a filmy, satiny, see-through fabric (chiffon?) looks like something some little suzy-homemaker might have enjoyed in the 50's-60's. The pocket is embroidered with "I Love Mommy" inside a heart bordered with roses - for Mommy's very own little cook-in-training. I have the black apron and the ric-rac apron hanging on the buffet in my kitchen. The other two just don't seem to fit in the old farmhouse feel, but I've kept them, just because I like them I suppose. I don't think either one would be easy to sell (the striped one is a bit faded and the child's apron has two tiny snags), and I certainly never bother to wear an apron, so I guess they are just another hang-up of mine!