Vintage-inspired Cherry Print Apron

A while ago I was inspired to make a vintage style cherry print apron. It started when I saw this apron in a magazine and also came across some vintage cherry print fabric at a market.

I started looking at pictures on vintage apron patterns to get a feel for what style of apron I would make. These three where the main ones that I ended up used for my pattern shape.

I decided to go with a sweetheart neckline and princess seams down the front, with the shoulder straps being part of the centre bodice piece. The back is the same as vintage patterns above, with a button up the top and ties at the waist. I decided not to go for pockets and not to have a ruffle around the edge.

The pattern process was probably a tad over-engineered, but it had been a little while since I'd drafted something from scratch, so it took a bit for my patterning mojo to kick in. Once I was happy with my muslin of the top half, I drafted the skirt and tie pieces.

The cherry print fabric I had was cotton and quite light weight. I was concerned that with frequent use and washing it would tear easily, so I decided to back it with some white cotton duck I had in my stash.

I cut out the pattern pieces in each fabric and then used the overlocker to sew them to each other and finish the raw edges. I then proceeded with the construction of the apron. As the cherry print isn't as bold as the original source of inspiration, I decided that it needed some trim to make it "pop" a bit. I used red bias tape around the edges and across the waist seam.

For the button closure at the back, I decided to use a fabric covered button. I played around with both a cherry print and plain red fabric button and decided the plain red button looked better. The button hole is bound with red bias tape to match the edging.

And here is the finished product, as modelled on Daphne:

And here it is modelled by yours truly*

*I should note that I am not in fact naked under the apron. I was modelling my newly acquired vintage bathing suit when I realised that I hadn't taken any photos of me in the apron, so I quickly threw it on and took a few shots (I couldn't be bothered getting into a frock). I realised later that it looks like I'm only wearing an apron. Think of it as an apron pin-up if you like :)

Vegetarian Chilli Recipe

Another Friendsmas recipe. This vegetarian chilli is very economical to make and tastes great.

Vegetarian Chilli

2 tsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 tsp minced garlic
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp chilli powder (I substitute paprika if I'm making it for chilli-sensitive folk)
400g canned crushed tomatoes
1 cup vegetable stock
250g pumpkin, peeled and cut into 1cm cubes
400g canned chickpeas, rinsed and drained
400g canned red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
310g canned corn kernels, drained

Heat the oil in a large pain and add the onion. Cook until soft and lightly golder, then add the garlic, spices and cook, stirring, for about 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes and stock.

Add the pumpkin, chickpeas, beans and corn. Bring the to boil, reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, until the pumpkin in tender. Stir occasionally while cooking. Uncover and cook a little longer to thicken.

If you're serving this with pasta or rice, leave the chilli as is. If you're serving it as a vegetarian filling for burritos (like I did for Friendsmas), place a few big ladle fulls of the chilli into the blender, whizz to a paste, then mix it back into the rest of the chilli and simmer uncovered to thicken. This gives you a thicker chilli that is a big easier to handle in burritos.

Gin and Tonic Jelly

As requested, the recipe for the Friendsmas 2009 dessert, courtesy of the Prima Domestica Goddess herself, Nigella Lawson.

Gin and Tonic Jelly

300ml plus 50ml water
300g caster sugar
zest and juice of 2 lemons
400ml tonic water (not slimline!) (that's Nigella's comment, I assume she means diet)
250ml gin
8 sheets of leaf gelatine
2 punnets of whitecurrants or 3-4 punnets raspberries, optional (I used blueberries as that's what was in season and looking good)
1 teaspoon icing sugar if using raspberries
1.25 litre jelly mould, lightly greased with almond or vegetable oil

Put the water and sugar into a wide, thick-bottomed saucepan and bring to the boil. Let boil for 5 minutes, take off the heat, add the lemon zest and leave to steep for 15 minutes. Strain into a measuring jug, then add the lemon juice, the tonic water and the gin; you should have reached the 1200ml mark; if not, add more tonic water, gin or lemon juice to taste.

Soak the gelatine leaves in a dish of cold water for 5 minutes to soften. Meanwhile, put 50ml of water into a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat, squeeze out the gelatine leaves and whisk them in. Pour some of the gin and lemon syrup mixture into the saucepan and then pour everything back into the jug. Pour into the mould and, when cold, put in the fridge to set. This should take about 6 hours.

When you are ready to unmould, half-fill a sink with warm water and stand the jelly mould in it for 30 seconds or so. Clamp a big flat plate over the jelly and invert to unmould, shaking it as you do so. If it doesn't work, stand it in the warm water for another half-minute or so and try again. If you've used a dome mould, surround the jelly with whitecurrants or fill the hole with them if you've used a ring mould. Raspberries are just as good, but dust these with icing sugar - it sounds poncey, but it makes the pale-jade glimmer of the jelly and the otherwise-too-vibrant red of the fruit come together on the plate. The whitecurrants should be left to glimmer, opal-like, without interference.

Serves 8.

Variation: To make a vodka and lime jelly, simply substitute 6 limes for the lemons and use vodka in place of the gin.

My notes: This is definitely a "make the day before" dessert. Also don't stand the mould in warm water for too long as this is a very soft wobbly jelly. It is also quite alcoholic as the gin is never heated so doesn't lose any alcohol.

Domestic Goddess

While I'm not doing so well on the sewing front, let's get back to my main claim to being a Domestic Goddess - cooking.

I would describe myself as a confident cook. I know my way around most recipes, am undaunted by choux pastry, and have the ability to rummage around the fridge and cupboards and come up with something tasty and fabulous at a moment's notice without needing a recipe to guide me.

I especially love cooking cakes and cookies. These are things I usually cook because I feel like cooking or for a specific occasion. I will often look at the fruit bowl and see a few bananas that have gone soft and black and decide to whip up a banana cake. Or if there is a birthday, then something a little more impressive like a malteser cake (why yes, I do own most of Nigella Lawson's books. Love that woman and her work).

It's a skill that I think is sorely lacking in the younger generations. I'm generation X and I learnt to cook from my Mum. I grew up with cooking. Both Mum and Dad cooked. Mum involved me and my brother in cooking from an early age. I remember having parties where we cooked our own treats like peanut brittle and home made pizzas and sausage rolls. I was fortunate to have been immersed in cooking so that later in life it has never been a question that I would cook majority of what I eat.

Being able to cook has obvious cost benefits as it is far cheaper to cook for yourself than to buy take away or prepackaged meals. There are nutritional benefits in knowing exactly what goes into your meals. It is far easier to control how much fat and calories are in your diet if you're making your own meals. I remember many years ago joining Weight Watchers when I wanted to lose some weight and was astounded at the meetings as to how many people didn't cook and how many couldn't cook. I could understand people not cooking because they were busy or lazy, but not knowing how to cook seemed as foreign to me as not knowing how to tie your shoelaces.

I love cooking. Granted, I am not always enthused at the end of the day to make something spectacular for dinner, but that's where cooking confidence comes to the fore because I can practically sleep walk my way through making most dinners without thinking. My regular dinners are not grandiose affairs. I have a few tried and true staples that I use with an assortment of variations. That's the main trick to being able to cook dinner on a daily basis. Have some basic formulas that you can just insert whatever meat and veg you happen to have on hand.

I am pleased to see that with the rise of the celebrity chef has (eventually) come the return of the basic cook book with plain, simple instructions to get people started. I have an old Margaret Fulton cook book that was my bible when I was learning to cook. It has step by step pictures on how to do things like make your own pastry. If you don't know to cook, grab a basic cook book and get in your kitchen and have a go. It's one of the most rewarding skills you can learn.

Note for friends and family, the apron featured above is by Now Designs and the print is "cherries". I'm almost tempted to try and make one myself, but that depends on whether I can get a grip on my sewing mojo.