4.07.2023

MomMom's Apron

I'm an "orphaned" grandchild, having lost all of my grandparents within the last 10 years. I occassionally will find some item around the house that belonged to one of them, like Grandma's old sheet music stand and dresser, an old mayonaise jar that I keep clothespins in, or my Grandpa's old shovel.

My mom's mom, my MomMom (try saying that fast), died 7 years ago, the summer after I got married. My wedding was the last one that our entire family attended, which is a bittersweet memory. One thing I somehow acquired after MomMom's death was an apron of hers.
I wish I knew more about it, like whether or not she made it, or who it came from. I kind of remember her wearing it, but she wore a lot of aprons. I wanted this apron because I've always liked aprons, and enjoyed the idea of wearing something of my grandmother's. It has a classic gingham fabric that is stitched together by hand.I'm just amazed that someone stitched all of those little "x's" by hand to create the apron. There is no machine stitching at all on this.

And I'm sure it wrapped around her small waist a lot better than my large one!
You can see that the pocket is tearing off at the corner, which I'll eventually repair.


Below is a detail of the wrong side of the apron, with all of those tiny stitches, both perfect and imperfect. I'm amazed that women made things like this, all while scrubbing laundry on washboards and minding children simulateously. I can barely wash a sinkful of dishes each day.I wear this all the time, and am of the philosophy of using something, rather than saving it for the future. I'm not one to hide away fine china or keep my Amish quilt folded in a closet between acid-free tissue paper. Things were meant to be used, and MomMom, I'm using your apron!

And if you'd like to win a future, usable heirloom, head over to The Apron Goddess to enter to win a cute apron from The Handmaiden's Cottage. Of course I couldn't resist entering!


8 comments:

shortmama said...

So cute. My hubs call his mom's mom MomMom too, how funny!

Naomi said...

What a good memento, something you can use and think of her.

Melissa said...

I too adore handmade hand~me~downs! How awesome is that, all the work put into it...beautiful!

Julia said...

You wrote a wonderful story about your apron! Well done!!! Thanks for posting the giveaway too.

•´.¸¸.•¨¯`♥.Erin.♥´¯¨•.¸¸.´• said...

A lovely apron. I love the stitching I think the most. And how nice that you are one that can keep using it...

tamdoll said...

That is really nice. I should use the aprons that I've been handed down, but I'm such a slob in the kitchen, I don't want to stain them permanently. I love those colors and the handstitching, it's wonderful that you have something like that to cherish.

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