Presto chango

My aunt Mary gave me this tablecloth. It was one of the first vintage tablecloths in my collection. At first I didn’t like it because of the colors—it is a very vintage palette with the red, greens, and gray.


But I love the strawberries and soon it became my favorite. I used it just about every night. And then, sadly, it started showing signs of wear.


I didn’t want to throw it away. So I started thinking about what I might do with it. I cut it in half, but I had no idea what to do next.

Then I got an idea. I decided to make an apron out of it. I’d never made an apron before. And I didn’t have a pattern. But I saw an apron at Anthropologie and took some measurements.

Most of the wear was on one-half of the tablecloth, so I cut around that half for the top and used the good half for the skirt. I didn’t want to cut the good half, so I used the entire half on the skirt.


I’m very happy with the result. The skirt is a bit blousy, but I like it. What made me very happy about this project is that this is the first time I have made something without a pattern. I feel inspired to do it again.


The model, by the way, is my niece Jessi, who agreed to model on one condition--that I not show her face. I mentioned the skirt was a bit blousy? No way I wanted to be in the photograph. I think the apron looks much nicer on Jessi's slender frame.