Daniel's apron

Daniel loves to "help" me in the kitchen, especially when I'm mixing up some kind of dough for baking. I give him a little hunk of dough with plenty of flour (so it doesn't stick to everything), a rolling pin and a little pan. This usually keeps him entertained for a while. I'll be putting together pizza or kneading bread dough while he works on his own little project, exclaiming "My roll out big dough! Time to cook it!"



Sometimes he wants to wear my apron.



Of course, my apron is much too big for Daniel, and often I need to wear it just when he wants to. One day I asked him, "Daniel, would you like an apron that's just your size?" to which he replied, "Yeah!" This morning, after at least four time-outs in a 45-minute span for various naughty behaviors, most involving Anya (knocking her over, taking her toys, etc), I decided we needed a brief change of venue to clear our heads and improve our moods. I took the kids to a nearby quilt shop (they know us and they have toys, which is two big points in their favor) to choose some fabric for Daniel's apron.

When I asked Daniel what color he wanted, he answered "Pink!" I hesitated a bit, and I'm a little ashamed of it. My son is two and a half. Why shouldn't he like pink? Why shouldn't he have a pink apron if he wants one? So what?* As it turned out, Daniel wasn't as interested in looking at fabric as playing with the toys in the shop (big surprise there), and I found a nice red and white striped print that looked apronly, so that's what I chose.

Our little outing to the quilt shop was just what we needed. Anya fell asleep on the way home and stayed asleep for over an hour (unheard of for her!), and Daniel was curious and interested enough in what I was doing that he actually watched nicely and respectfully without whining or interfering while I cut and sewed and ironed. I finished in about an hour, and I actually did a pretty nice job, which tells you just how simple this project was.

Afterwards, Daniel wanted to wear his new apron and play with the sewing machine, so I let him (after unplugging it, of course.)



He wore it outside to play in the dirt.







Anya woke up and chewed on a bottle of sunscreen.



I didn't use a pattern, but here are a few of the design details, in case you're interested:

1. The apron is fully lined because I didn't want to fuss with lots of hemming.
2. Once I decided on approximate measurements, I cut a big rectangle, then folded it in half and trimmed the corners to make it narrower at the top.
3. I topstitched all the way around the edge for a neat finish.
4. The straps are basically long tubes. Turning them right side out after stitching them up took as long as any other part of the process.

This project makes me happy in so many ways. It was nice to be able to sew with Daniel watching but not interfering; I don't expect I'll be able to do that too often. I was glad to make something start to finish in the space of 90 minutes. Hoorah for instant gratification! Finally, it felt good to make something special for my little guy. I expect he'll get a lot of use out of it. Considering how fast he grows, I may need to make another this winter, and it might even be pink!

*If you read the comments, you'll see that Jenn-Jenn's son (who is 10 and knows all about these things) says that pink is the new color craze for boys. Who knew? I certainly had no idea, but I'm so glad to hear it. Pink is actually a good color for me, but I almost never wear it; this is probably because in my early days as a feminist I rejected pink for being too demure and passive and girly. I have moved quite beyond that, because I know that modern feminism has nothing to do with the colors you wear; it has to do with the ideas you hold and actions you take about treating women as equally valuable members of society as men...but that's a whole different topic. Many shades of pink can be quite nice. Pink is the color of many nice flowers and strawberry milkshakes and healthy cheeks. It can be bright and noticeable (which is probably why Daniel likes it - he also loves orange and yellow). In fact, what's not to like about it?

Comments

abcgirl said…
great project! and cute results!
Jamie informs me that pink is the new "cool" color for guys. Down here, it is common to see boys (from toddlers to teens) wearing pink t-shirts (in every shade of pink, no less). Pink skateboards for boys are cool. Pink skin cases for Nintendo DS are "ultra" cool. Jamie has a pink blanket he proudly sleeps with at night. So, this goes to show you that you need not fear pink for the Danimal.
ann said…
He is so so cute in that adorable apron! I don't know if I could take it. I would bite those cheeks.

My cousin used to wear pink when he was Daniel's age. I think he even had a girl's bathing suit. Now he's in the army and is married with children and probably doesn't wear pink. But I bet he'd let his son wear pink. (His little brother wore pantyhose. He's okay now, too.)
ann said…
I was thinking if Anya has a lot of pink things, maybe he associates that color with good feelings, since he likes her and all.
Anonymous said…
I don't believe there is anything inherently feminine about the color pink--it's just our culture that has attached it to things female. A child who doesn't know the culture yet would have no reason to make such an assumption, so a little boy choosing the color pink is making a totally innocent choice.

Mom
Anonymous said…
By the way, Mrs. Alloro, because of the particular shade of Anya's hair, her mother and grandmothers have studiously avoided buying her pink clothes, so no, she does not have a lot of pink things. Shopping is a real challenge as at least 80% of all clothes for little girls are pink!!!

Mom again
ann said…
I imagine it is! Hi, Mrs. G.

And speaking of culture, in India lots of men wear pink, even hot pink, even fuschia scarves. I love it. I try to get Daniel to wear pink, but he's afraid of what Americans would think of him. He has a salmon shirt that he got in India, and he was very concerned that it was "pink." He now has a white shirt with pink and purple stripes that he wears all the time, because he doesn't know it has pink and purple stripes. I bleached it (it used to have blue and navy stripes) and it changed color, but he doesn't know because he's a little colorblind.

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