My Apron Fetish

Memories to Memoirs – a humorous piece : My Apron fetish

By Hilda Young

My favorite piece of clothing is aprons. I like to have all my good clothes covered. My fetish started when I was young. It was part of the Home Economics curriculum or in England the Domestic Science curriculum that everyone made an apron. My earliest attempt was the obligatory white cotton apron that was a bib style. To personalize this item of clothing we all had to embroider our names on the bib. I learnt slowly to make the straps and the main part of the apron. It was one of the few pieces of clothing I packed when we immigrated to Canada. In Grade 7 I also had to make an apron- it was of the plaid cotton popular in the 60’s.There was also embroidery involved- along the bottom- cross stitch. The apron straps were threaded through the waistband area. My sewing skill was limited but I did keep those aprons for a while. My mother’s training was in a cooking college in Norway so she was big on aprons. Before we prepared any meal and before sitting down for a meal we had to have a clean apron on. It is a humorous topic of conversation between my daughter and my husband/ Jocelyn says” Mom, are you ready for supper? You don’t have your apron on?”  Me.” Where is it?” I need a clean one as the old one is in the wash?

After supper or the dishes the used apron is hung over the dining room chair. However I usually forget where I put it and look for another one!

ON the weekend I attended the OSPCA Fundraiser- There was a good variety of silent auction items but I only bid one three. I was ecstatic as I had a successful bid on the Apron and $25 gift certificate from Wilno Craft Gallery. My new addition to the collection is an adjustable Christmas apron with pockets! I am in heaven. It will be a great addition to my collection.   I needed to replace the Christmas apron for two years ago, as the straps were broken. Most of the apron in my collection had a story to them. My oldest apron I purchased second hand at a church rummage sale. It is an important item of clothing as it has  “50” all over – it is a ten year old well-worn apron. My second favourites are a black one with an African style transfer on it. I purchased that to support the Stephen Lewis foundation. Both these aprons are bib style. My other aprons were inherited from my mother. They are all short –the style that covers the ever expanding middle aged girth. Of course they attract dirt.-mostly flour and coffee spills.….Of course the old favourites become dust cloths.  One is in several pieces now as the straps are off. It gets washed frequently so I don’t loose it! The larger part of the apron gets used as a cleaning cloth. In former days it was my husbands bbq  apron. However he knew where is was really needed- to cover my chest area so that the bbq sauce would not get on clean clothes.

Now I just dream of the ideal apron: it covers everything, is easy to put on and washes itself…