Customer Reviews

A Is for Apron: 25 Fresh & Flirty Designs

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(15)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

A is for Apron is a great book to get one interested in sewing aprons, seeing cute ideas and reading a small history of the apron (or at least viewing the changes in style over time), however.... these are the many problems I encountered when sewing aprons from the book:

1. The recommended fabric allowances include a lot of waste (good if you like scraps).

2. Not all of the pattern pieces match/align together (example: Kaleidoscope).

3. The pictures of the model aprons do not always match the finished product using the patterns (example: Psychedelic Squares- length of ties- too short).

4. Lack of a lining or back to the apron is not "crisp," or in my opinion not worthy of gifting to another person. If you want to do this, there is actually enough fabric (as listed) to just double the fronts of the apron to use as a back (example: Psychadelic Squares and The Waldorf.

5. There are easier ways to make a lot of the aprons, in addition many of the instructions are difficult to understand (I have been sewing for 35 years).

Bottom line the aprons are adorable, but do not invest in expensive material until you have made the apron using the pattern at least once (that way you can make adjustments to each). I have re-written instructions for every apron on this book for the next time.

The aprons are so beautiful, I wanted to jump right in and make almost every one!

Getting the patterns enlarged was not too difficult. Simply photocopy the pattern page and take it to a copy center and ask them to enlarge it 400%. My local (national chain) office supply store copy center charges about $3 per large copy and did several in less than 10 minutes.

If I'd never made any of the aprons, the book would rate 5 stars. But I've now made several of them and have found glaring mistakes in each set of instructions. If you are an experienced sewist, you will be able to "work around" the mistakes, but novice sewists should beware and go slowly.

Overall, a worthwhile purchase for apron lovers.

If you own or are thinking of owning this book, be sure to check Lark Publishing's errata page. The list of errors is quite extensive and involves both patterns and instructions. Lark's idea of correcting pattern errors is to re-label all the wrongly sized pieces with new percentages for magnification rather than to re-draw the patterns correctly proportioned. (In practical terms, this means a whole lot more work for you in the printing and tiling process, which is already laborious.) And I'm not entirely sure they caught all the errors, but I've spent more time than I ever wanted to on this book so I'm not chasing it down.

I made one of the more elaborate aprons, Summertime Blues, before thinking to check the publishers site. What a pain in the neck! None of the pieces fit together as they should, the directions seemed to be written in pig-latin, the yardage requirements were off, and the final product would have been weirdly shoddy had I followed their instructions to the letter. (I managed to get a decent apron out of the process because I know how to sew, but heaven help the newbie.) I say weirdly shoddy because they omitted lining most of the apron, despite the fact that a lining 1) makes the apron more functional, 2) increases the lifespan of an apron and 3) would have been a whole lot faster than what the instructions called for. And I should add that many of the apron patterns are unlined.

Finally most people I know prefer a full apron to a half apron because it's more effective at keeping you clean while working. (Not all - so don't torch me, please.) This book is strongly biased toward half-aprons. (Faster to design and make up.) When I bought the book I thought the "Marie Antoinette" apron made of silk and organza was intentionally absurd and meant as an amusement. But the more I look at it the more I feel like I got my nose rubbed in cake by a publisher who rushed an unfinished book to print to catch a wave, and knew full well that eye-candy is all you need to get something to fly off a shelf.

I very much wanted to like this book. I hate giving bad reviews to things that look cute. And I'm sure this Nathalie Mornu is a nice person and all. But I still feel like Lark picked my pocket of $18, and a newbie would probably toss in the sewing towel if this book was a first experience. That ain't right. I was going to give this book 2 stars because of the cute factor, but then I thought of the beginning sewist sobbing at 2 am under a pile of wrongly sized but carefully chosen fabric pieces and took that star away again.

So anyway, if you just want to imagine yourself swanning about your kitchen all dolled up, this is the book for you. But if you want to be deluded by enticing pictures of aprons complete with bad pattern drafts and even worse instructions, it's a whole lot cheaper to wait for the $0.99 pattern sales at the chain stores. At least you don't have to print and tile those suckers. You can dive right into the misery of mis-sized pattern pieces posthaste.

No. I'm not bitter. I mean, not really. Sigh.

I fell in love with so many of these aprons that I had to purchase it, along with fabric to make them. I tried my favorite first, the Josephine and was constantly taking out seams and reworking the instructions to make better sense. The steps that there were pictures of really didn't need the photo, and other steps really should have had photos.

I'm disappointed to find that the patterns and cutting instructions don't match what is in the photograph. Especially with the psychedelic squares.

Really, only purchase this book if you are an experienced sewer who is capable of figuring things out on your own. The written instructions are not as helpful as they could be. Oh, and like another review, I found that I had lots of wasted fabric in the end. Fine with me, I do like to use up my scraps later, but at $9 per yard, it's pretty spendy to waste fabric like that.

This book has cost me more money than I care to count. [...] All told, I spent [...]at my "big-box copy shop" enlarging the templates, and even then, they could not handle anything over 400%. Anything with 402, 413, 579, etc. - forget it. I printed out the Lark errata pages as well, and noticed that even some of those are still messed up.

The instructions are so poorly written that I feel embarrassed for the designers. What happened in the edit process? Important details are left out, leaving you to sort of buffalo through the project. I've only been sewing for a year, and to read that experienced sewers were having problems makes me feel better.

[...]

All told: Caveat Emptor, for sure. It looks like they spent all their money on photography (that's where the one star goes), and skimped on copyediting, factchecking, and testing patterns. If Lark Books is going to be supercheap and ask the reader to make copies from templates - at least make sure the templates are correct!

You'll have lots of excess fabric left over, lots of headaches from rewriting the patterns/instructions, an empty pocketbook, and you'll STILL have wonky aprons. Blerg. Not recommended at all.

I just attempted to make the Summertime Blues Apron from A is for Apron. I say attempted because I wasn't able to finish it tonight. After spending hours at the copy store and then picking out my fabrics at the quilt shop I am unable to make the apron. The fabric amounts are VERY wrong. Not enough of one and too much of another. But worst of all nothing quite fits together the way it should.

I am not a novice. I have made at least 60 aprons of varying patterns. Don't buy this book.

This book had great ideas for aprons but there is no excuse for the errors in the patterns. Deep Pockets was missing just a half inch or so on the top center edge of the pocket layer. But if you sew you know that once it is cut, a missing half inch is a big problem.

The second issue is that most of the aprons are cut from cute print fabrics, which are usually thin. Unless you are wearing an apron just as a fashion statement, I suggest you line the apron by cutting it twice for double thinkness. An apron should save your clothes from a spill and be cute.

The book is disappointing. Who ever created these aprons can design but does she cook or sew?

I generally don't review crafting books without first making some of the items inside the book, but I'm at a standstill with this book because unlike many of the pattern books being published right now- this book uses small templates you have to get blown up 400% in order to use.

Perhaps this shouldn't annoy me as much as it does, but when I buy a book I like to dig right in. With this book you can't do that. You've got to get thee to a copyshop.

As a low tech sew meister housewife I don't have ready access to a copyshop- so this book has been more trouble than I initially expected. Aprons are a symbol of slowing down, doing it the old fashioned way, and making time for the good things in life, which is precisely why I'm so baffled by the choice to use templates in the book instead of a folded pattern neatly tucked inside the front cover ready for a busy gal to get started on.

The book has some neat info- though the author states "the apron has been emancipated from drudgery" (I never considered my life drudgery- and we all have to clean the toilet right?) and the book has a tone that deduces that aprons are mere fashion statements and gushes a few too many times "how awfully cute!" the aprons are.

Other than that the book contains aprons in a dizzying array of styles, tantalizing fabrics and unique shapes. There is a smock made from toile fabric the author claims ladies are wearing as a piece of clothing- and it is that pretty.

Aside from the weird verbage in the front of the book (the author's opinions) and the lack of ready to use patterns, I like this book alright.

Just be forewarned- no sewing without trudging off to the copyshop.

I came here to see if my feelings were shared by other readers, and low and behold, they are! These designs are smart and classy, and quite a few of them called out to me, which is why I bought the book. But in sewing the first one I ran in to immediate difficulties. My hackles were up when I read the phrase that talked about "putting wrong sides together" and then stitching. Did this book manage to get through the editorial process without being looked at by an experienced sewer? A website with corrections would be most appreciated.

While the history of the apron was intresting, the photos were well done and text was well written, I was disappointed that all the patterns need to be enlarged 200%, 400%, 579%, etc. Who has a blueprint copy machine easily available that can do this type of copying??? I expected to read through the book, pick my fabric and get started! Poor planing on the writer's part.