I picked up two expertly crafted vintage aprons at my thrift store last week (what is that diamond-shaped stitching...a kind of smocking?). The best part is the label sewn on the inside..."HAND MADE BY Margie". You gotta love a name like Margie...a classic 1940's name...but still so cute.
I recently was getting ready to meet some friends from college and my daughter asked my friends' names. "Well, there's Linda, Kathy, Karen..." I said. Ellen thought about it for a second and said "Those are weird names". I thought this was so funny. I guess when you are 6 and go to school with kids named Hannah, Ava, Fiona...and even Parker and Carter, those classic 1960s names must sound pretty funky. Lisa? Kim? Julie?...classic 1960's names...now seen as "weird".
Julie - the MaryJanes Farm apron issue gave a pattern for this type of fake smocking. It was almost always completed on gingham - but I also have a pillow made this way from the ribbons off my Dad's grave. (yes I know that's strange) I can copy the info if you would like and send it to you. - Just email me.
Posted by: teresa | January 23, 2008 at 09:11 AM
I totally love old school names! I was trying to talk my husband into naming our baby Penelope and calling her Penny or Margaret and calling her Peg or Peggy, but he wasn't havin' it. I even like Margie! :) Love the color combo of the aprons. So cheery.
Posted by: Sarah | January 23, 2008 at 09:35 AM
I was thinking about names when I did the valentine swap sign up, I swear 6 of us are called Sarah, and 6 are called Jennifer. We are all *so* mid 1970s!
I think that is some sort of smocking. If they have cross stitch on the bottom with the gingham, they call those chicken scratch.
Posted by: Sarah | January 23, 2008 at 11:42 AM
i just remember there being a ton jennifers, heathers, and a couple of tiffanies thrown in there in the 80's.
i never had to worry about someone else having my name, unless they were in my family and then it runs rampant.
Posted by: jeanetta | January 23, 2008 at 01:16 PM
Love the colors!.. and you must have MUCH better thrift shops than we have!.. Want a dorky name??.. I HATED my name when I was a kid. Madeleine. in a calss full of Jill's Alison's Barbie's.. sigh.. when I moved to the South I morphed into Maddie and that works well enough and I meet tons of babies named Maddie these days.. so guess it's not so bad after all :)
Posted by: Maddie | January 23, 2008 at 01:43 PM
Isn't it funny how many of us dislike our names and yet our loving Mothers must have given us those names with a lot of thought! I'm a Gillian,and have always disliked it. I remember asking my Mum when I was a child "why did you have to call me Gillian?", she used to answer, "well I like it dear". I always wanted a pretty name such as Lucy, or Sally, or Julie! I love the current trend for old-fashioned names for children, I know several Alfies, and a couple of Harriets. My own son is a Jack which when he was born 19 years ago was considered quite an adult name.
Posted by: Gill | January 23, 2008 at 02:05 PM
Hey! I have the same apron - in green check with that same stitching. I'd have been over the moon if it had a "made by..."tag. And, alas, I am more at home with my peers - the Julies, Kristens. There were no Eva, Olivia, Hannah...in my day either!
Great finds!
Kelley
Posted by: junqueygal | January 23, 2008 at 05:17 PM
That is a type of smocking. It is easier to do than traditional smocking as you use the checks instead of pleating and marking. There was a show in the late 50's called "My Little Margie" and I coveted that name or Suzie. My Mom is Marjorie, but called Bunny due to her little sister pointing to Mom's coat with a little rabbit on it and proclaiming her Bunny.
Posted by: Jeannie | January 23, 2008 at 08:40 PM
My mother's relatives thought she was nuts when she named my sister Dawn and me Robin in the early 60s--they thought she should have gone with more traditional names (after our grandmothers). Thank God Mom didn't do that--we would have been named Mildred and Imogene! The relatives thought she was becoming a flower child.
Posted by: Robin | January 23, 2008 at 10:18 PM
those aprons are sooo cute!
i think your blog is awesome and so i've tagged you (please don't hate me!) see my blog for details...
thestitchingsurgeon.blogspot.com
Posted by: stitchingsurgeon | January 24, 2008 at 01:23 PM